Performance Tiers within a Competitive Age Group of Young Swimmers Are Characterized by Different Kinetic and Kinematic Behaviors

The present study aimed to analyze swimmers’ in-water kinetic and kinematic behaviors according to different swimming performance tiers within the same age group. An amount of 53 highly trained swimmers (girls and boys: 12.40 ± 0.74 years) were split up into 3 tiers based on their personal best performance (i.e., speed) in the 50 m freestyle event (short-course): lower-tier (1.25 ± 0.08 m·s(−1)); mid-tier (1.45 ± 0.04 m·s(−1)); and top-tier (1.60 ± 0.04 m·s(−1)). The in-water mean peak force was measured during a maximum bout of 25 m front crawl using a differential pressure sensors system (Aquanex system, Swimming Technology Research, Richmond, VA, USA) and defined as a kinetic variable, while speed, stroke rate, stroke length, and stroke index were retrieved and considered as kinematic measures. The top-tier swimmers were taller with a longer arm span and hand surface areas than the low-tier, but similar to the mid-tier. While the mean peak force, speed and efficiency differed among tiers, the stroke rate and stroke length showed mixed findings. Coaches should be aware that young swimmers belonging to the same age group may deliver different performance outcomes due to different kinetic and kinematic behaviors.