Ageing in reverse? The accelerated performance gains of older female swimmers in age-group records.

Abstract

Recent Masters swimming trends defy perceptions of age-related performance deterioration, particularly in older women. Previous research has shown that as women age, they often narrow the gender performance gap in ultra-endurance sports. However, it has been argued that inherent physiological constraints will prevent women from exceeding men's absolute records in most sports. This study examines 2023 and 2024 FINA World Masters Championships data to see if women over 60 are progressing more than men relative to age-group world records. Using multivariate regression, PCA and cluster analysis, the findings indicate a significant effect of age on performance with a 0.16% move towards world records at each age-group increase, with a sharper increase in shorter distances; a significant Age × Sex interaction (coef = 0.109, p < 0.001), with older women demonstrating sharper performance gains than men. The findings confirm evidence that, while physiological deterioration is expected with ageing, some demographic groups, such as women over 60, show remarkable peaks of competitive performance especially in freestyle and backstroke events. In conclusion, this study adds human capital to age-related swimming performance studies. Whipp and Ward's (1992) hypothesis that the disparity in performance between sexes may diminish with increasing distance may become topical again when taking age-relative performance profiles into account.