197 Appendices A they excelled compared to swimmers off track varied across developmental phases and between males and females. Overall, this thesis provides a nuanced, fine-grained, and concrete understanding of the pathway to international swimming success. It underscores that swimmers on track towards the elite level are characterized by high levels and significant progress in both season best times and underlying characteristics throughout their careers. These findings refute a one-dimensional approach to talent identification and development and emphasize the importance of continuously monitoring, guiding, and evaluating swimmers across performance, physical, mental, technical, and tactical aspects. Whereas youth swimmers previously could only be compared with themselves or immediate peers, this thesis offers age-specific profiles and developmental patterns of swimmers on track towards the elite level. Coaches can use these objective data and evidence-based insights to better assess the potential of their swimmers and guide them optimally towards success. As such, this thesis demonstrates the value of multidimensional and longitudinal research for the field of (elite) sports practice.
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