20 Chapter 2 rather than the swimmer’s potential performance level. This risks the exclusion of talented swimmers who may not be the fastest yet, but who may be so in the future (ElferinkGemser et al., 2011; Elferink-Gemser et al., 2018). Scientific-based knowledge about the general performance development of top-elite swimmers throughout their entire career may enlighten the value of this approach. Research on adult elite swimmers has given valuable insight into performance progression and the age of peak performance. The study of Pyne et al. (2004) showed that performance progression by ∼1.0% within a competition and ∼1.0% within the year leading up to the Olympics is necessary to stay in contention for a medal at the Olympic Games. Allen et al. (2014; 2015) modelled the career performances of Olympic top-16 swimmers and concluded that elite male swimmers achieve their peak performance at ∼24 (± 2) years while elite female swimmers achieve peak performance at ∼22 (± 2) years. The difference in age of peak performance between sexes can presumably be explained by the in general ∼2-year earlier onset of puberty in females compared with males (Baxter-Jones & Sherar, 2006). Given this information, a comparison of the performance development between young male and female swimmers is of considerable interest as differences in performance development between sexes may hold important implications for training and athlete development programs. Both aforementioned studies provide valuable information about performance development of senior elite swimmers during adulthood, however, insight regarding the performance development during their younger years relative to swimmers who did not reach elite level is lacking. Big data analyses over multiple generations could provide relevant information about how elite swimmers got to their high level of expertise. What characterizes their successful performance development over the years compared to those who did not make it to the top? The present study investigates the 100m freestyle performance development of a multigenerational sample of swimmers in order to provide more insight into the junior towards senior performance development of those few who reached top-elite level. Each research question is answered separately for male and female swimmers. The research questions we aim to answer are (1) From which age on do top-elite swimmers outperform swimmers from other performance groups (e.g. high-competitive, sub-elite and elite)? (2) From which age on do top-elite swimmers start to perform at high-competitive level, sub-elite level, elite level and top-elite level? The results of this study add value to both science and sport practice as it broadens the knowledge about general performance development of top-elite swimmers. It may function as a guideline for athlete development programs by providing scientific-based knowledge about the performance development of top-elite swimmers.
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