Analysis of sex and age differences in performance of young Canadian freestyle swimmers

Abstract

This study is intended to determine sex and age differences in young Canadian freestyle swimmers aged from ≤10 to 18, for all 6 distances from 50m to 1500m in both short and long course indoor pools. The data set used in the studies is publicly available and categorized into sex/age/course/distance groups during seasons from 2008 to 2019. The sex differences in swimming speed were determined using independent Z-tests (two-sided, unequal SD). The age differences in swimming speed over all ages were analysed using classic one-way ANOVA with subsequent pairwise Tukey-HSD post-hoc tests and Welch’s ANOVA followed by pairwise Games-Howell post-hoc tests. They were then determined using paired two-sample t-tests (two-sided). Young male swimmers outperformed young female swimmers in most groups. Groups with similar performances or no significant differences were in younger age groups (10-year and 11-year). Sex differences increased as age increased, ranging from −0.96% to 13.54%. Sex differences in shorter distances and short course were smaller than in longer distances and long course for ≤12 years and became greater than in longer distances at ≥13 years. Age speed differences decreased as age increased until 17–18-years old, ranging from 12.79% to −0.37%. The performance of female swimmers became stable earlier than that of male swimmers. The age-to-age speed differences of male swimmers were greater than those of female swimmers. These gaps increased from 10–11-year to 13–14-year groups and decreased after that. Age differences in shorter distances and short course were greater than in longer distances and long course. Further studies are required to confirm and extend this research to swimmers at other age groups, in other strokes, and from other countries.