Performance evolution in Olympic swimming over the last 100 years: A retrospective stroke-based analysis

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Anameriç A., Cengizel E., Ertaş Dölek B., Pekel H. A.

PLOS ONE, cilt.21, sa.10, ss.1-18, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 21 Sayı: 10
  • Basım Tarihi: 2026
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1371/journal.pone.0361289
  • Dergi Adı: PLOS ONE
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), Natural Science Collection (ProQuest), Biological Science Database (ProQuest), Biomedical Reference Collection: Corporate Edition (EBSCO), Health Research Premium Collection (ProQuest), Scopus, Materials Science & Engineering Collection (ProQuest), Pharma Collection (ProQuest), Technology Collection (ProQuest), Aerospace Database, Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), L'Année philologique, BIOSIS, Chemical Abstracts Core, EMBASE, Index Islamicus, Linguistic Bibliography, MEDLINE, Psycinfo, zbMATH, Directory of Open Access Journals, Zoological Record
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1-18
  • Açık Arşiv Koleksiyonu: AVESİS Açık Erişim Koleksiyonu
  • Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

This retrospective study examined the historical progression of Olympic swimming

performance across 24 Olympic Games from Paris 1924 to Paris 2024. Finalist

race data for 1553 women and 1641 men were extracted from the official World

Aquatics database, including final times, reaction times, and calculated swimming

speeds across all strokes (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly) and

Olympic distances (50–1500 m). Across all strokes and distances, final times

demonstrated substantial reductions over the century, with the most pronounced

improvements observed in freestyle and long-distance events. The largest

percentage improvements in performance were observed during specific Olympic

cycles, including 1956, 1972, and 2008, which coincided with major developments

in pool engineering, competition regulations, training methodologies, and swimsuit

technology. Swimming speeds increased consistently in all events, while reactiontime

analyses revealed significant improvements across Olympic Games during

the period in which reaction-time data were recorded. Overall, these findings

demonstrate substantial long-term improvements in Olympic swimming performance

and provide a comprehensive historical overview of performance changes across

strokes, distances, and sexes. The periods associated with the largest performance

improvements coincided with major technological, biomechanical, and regulatory

developments in the sport. The results may serve as valuable benchmarks for

coaches, athletes, and sports scientists to evaluate long-term performance trends

and prepare for future international competitions.