DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONAL RESULTS IN THE 100 M FREESTYLE -- MEN.

Achieving high personal result in swimming requires a good multi-year training plan that is consistent with the optimum age for training initiation, physiological characteristics during the various stages of human growth and development and optimum age for reaching maximum results. Training methods are related to the sensitive periods for different physiological adaptations like increase in stroke volume of the heart, biochemical oxidation processes improvement, muscular hypertrophy, etc. The aims of the study were to find the age range of today's swimming elite in the men 100 m freestyle, the rate of increase in the results over the years before reaching their maximum and the age-related differences. The best results available for 2010-2018 of swimmers within top 100 in the men 100 m freestyle world rankings for 2000-2018 with results made within 2016-2018 were analysed. It was concluded that the optimum age range for best results in the men 100 m freestyle is 20-26 years. Some swimmers can enter the world swimming elite in this event at age 17 and some can achieve maximum results at 28 years of age or even later. The rate of performance improvement in the years before the peak is significantly higher for younger swimmers. The range of four-year improvement immediately prior to achieving the best personal result for all 36 cases analysed is from 0.79 to 12.94%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]