Analysis and prediction of competition performance in master swimmers

Abstract

This study aimed to quantify the participation of male master swimmers during ten seasons (2008/2009 – 2018/2019) in the national master swimmers and predict the results for the 2020/2021 season in the events of 50 100, 200 and 400 m freestyle. Eight age groups were considered, namely, A to H with a total of 5368 participants, in the four events analysed 50, 100, 200 and 400m freestyle. The best time of each race was recorded in the selected age groups that took place in the last decade of the National Summer Championship, through the specific website "Swimrakings" (https://www.swimrankings.net/). The resulting equation for the calculation was: y=(-)ax^2-bx+c, being y the rate of increase or decrease in swimming performance and the x variation depending on the year of events that one intends to estimate for 2021, x = 13. The results showed an increase in the number of participations in middle age groups (35-49 years) and a prediction of improvements in the results of 21 events for all the swimming races studied. In conclusion, we can verify that prediction becomes essential for the definition of new objectives and evolutionary trends in swimming. Keywords: Swimming, crawl, master, competition, prediction

Keywords

• Swimming
• crawl
• master
• competition
• prediction