28 Chapter 2 Discussion The present study investigated the 100m freestyle performance development longitudinally (over at least 5 years) in a multigenerational (over more than 20 years) sample of competitive swimmers to provide unique insight into the junior towards senior performance development of those few who reached top-elite level. The main findings showed that (1) from 12 years on, top-elite swimmers progressively outperformed swimmers of similar age, and that (2) there is a wide variety in the age at which male and female top-elite swimmers start to perform at high competitive, sub-elite, elite and top-elite level. The findings of the present study concretize that successful performance development to the top is characterized by a high level of expertise from 12 years on. Male top-elite swimmers outperformed high-competitive swimmers from 12 years on, sub-elite swimmers from 14 years on and elite swimmers from 18 years, while female top-elite swimmers outperformed high-competitive and sub-elite swimmers from 12 years on and elite swimmers from 14 years on. This progressive trend not only characterizes the differences between performance groups, but also the variety within the top-elite performance group. For both male and female top-elite swimmers, it seems that the higher the performance level becomes, the more variety in the first entry age range exists. For example in female top-elite swimmers, the first entry age range expanded from two years (12-14 years) in high competitive level to ten years (14-24 years) at top-elite level. This means that at least one 14 year old female top-elite swimmer entered high-competitive level while at least one other female top-elite swimmer achieved at the same age top-elite level. Looking at the differences between male and female top-elite swimmers, we see that most of the female top-elite swimmers achieved the high-competitive, sub-elite, elite and top-elite level at a younger age compared to most of the male top-elite swimmers. For example, most female top-elite swimmers reached high-competitive level at the age of 13 whilst most male top-elite swimmers reached highcompetitive level at the age of 16. Together, these results point out crucial differences in the individual pathways of performance development towards top-elite level within and between male and female swimmers. Now, an intriguing question is which underlying performance characteristics (e.g. anthropometrical, technical, tactical, physiological and psychological characteristics) contribute to the successful performance development towards top-elite level. In here, it is important to consider that the underlying performance characteristics are influenced by maturation, learning and training (Elferink-Gemser & Visscher, 2012; Barbosa et al., 2015; Till et al., 2014) and that athletes always develop in and with their environment. The environment (e.g. parents, coaches, talent development programs, competition and training facilities) plays a crucial role in developing the underlying performance characteristics (Bloom, 1985; Phillips et al., 2010). For example, the popularity of a sport might influence national, regional and local selection procedures for talent identification and
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