196 Appendices at early senior age (males aged 18-19 years, females aged 17-18 years) were already on track at the end of their junior years. At this age (males aged 17, females aged 16), they also had faster season best times and demonstrated a higher level on most underlying characteristics compared to those who were no longer on track towards the elite level as early seniors. Furthermore, swimmers on track towards the elite level distinguished themselves by their ongoing progress during the junior-to-senior transition. Males showed greater advancements in their season best times, maximal swimming velocity, and turns, while females, in addition to improving their season best times, also became more efficient swimmers. This highlights that swimmers on track towards the elite level maintain and even extend their advantage by the end of their junior years and throughout the transition to seniors. Chapter 7 closely mirrors the study in Chapter 6 but focuses on a younger group of swimmers, investigating the development of 90 Dutch swimming talents during the pubertal years. The swimmers were between 13-15 years old (males) and 12-14 years old (females) when they were followed for three seasons on their season best times and underlying characteristics such as their maximal swimming speed, stroke index, and lower body power. Despite the difference in developmental phases between the studies, the findings revealed a similar pattern as in Chapter 6. Swimmers who were on track to the elite level after puberty (males aged 16; females aged 15) were already on track during the pubertal years. Additionally, during their teenage years, they had faster season best times and had a higher maximal swimming velocity than those who were not on track. Males on track also swam more efficiently, while females were characterized by greater lower body power and taller stature. Furthermore, those who remained on track after puberty made more progress during the pubertal years in their season best times, maximal swimming velocity, and stroke index (exclusively for males) compared to peers who where not on track. In Chapter 8, the findings of the six studies in this thesis are presented into two athletic profiles - one for males and one for females. Across various ages, these athletic profiles highlight the key characteristics that differentiate swimmers on track towards the elite level from those who are not. In essence, the findings demonstrate that swimmers who reached higher levels of swim performance later in their career consistently outperformed their lower-level peers from the age of 12 onwards. Achieving season best times within the agerelated international performance benchmarks appear to be a prerequisite for advancing to the elite level, yet these early achievements in itself do not necessarily guarantee success. This is evidenced by the fact that while most Dutch swimming talents were on track towards the elite level at the beginning of their teenage years, only a few maintained this trajectory as their careers progressed. Swimmers who sustained this level showed greater improvement in their swim times across and within seasons. Additionally, they demonstrated higher levels and greater progress in a multidimensional profile of underlying physical, mental, technical, and tactical characteristics. The key characteristics in which
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