113 Tracking talented swimmers during the junior-to-senior transition 6 Participants Participants were twenty-nine Dutch talented swimmers (12 males, 757 ± 110 World Aquatics Points ; 17 females, 743 ± 82 World Aquatic Points) who progressed through the junior-to-senior transition (males aged 16-19; females aged 15-18). Swimmers were specialized in sprint (50-100m; 8 males and 10 females) or middle-distance (200-400m; 4 males and 7 females) events. According to the age group regulations of the Royal Dutch Swimming Federation (KNZB), swimmers were classified as late juniors (males aged 16-17; females aged 15-16) or early seniors (males aged 18-19; females aged 17-18) based on their calendar age on December 31st of the corresponding season (KNZB, 2022). During their late junior years, all swimmers participated in one of the (initial) talent development (TD) programs of the KNZB, involving six to ten swim (in-water) training sessions per week. Additionally, they performed mobility training before every morning or afternoon swim session and took part in strength training, typically one to two times per week. Upon reaching early senior age, the group underwent further differentiation. Seventeen swimmers (9 males; 8 females) advanced to the subsequent, higher-level TD programs, while six (1 male and 5 females) swimmers remained in the initial TD program. Additionally, six (2 males and 4 males) swimmers were deselected from the program. Study design Longitudinal data on swim performance and underlying performance characteristics were collected over four swimming seasons. Performance data (season best times from all long course swim events) were obtained from Swimrankings (Swimrankings, 2022) at the end of each swimming season. Repeated measures of underlying performance characteristics were conducted as an integral part of all talent development programs, serving as the primary data source for this study. The frequency of measurement moments varied depending on the specific TD program in which the swimmers were enrolled (see Figure 1). This ranged from two to three times a year for the initial TD programs (indicated by the solid red line) to once per month for the subsequent, higher-level TD programs (indicated by the dashed red line). According to coaches’ recommendations, the measurement moments were strategically scheduled to align with the competitive calendar for each specific season. The median number of observations was n = 6 in males and n = 10 in females.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTk4NDMw