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

Finalist final times decreased substantially over the century across all strokes and distances.

• The study covered 24 Olympic Games from Paris 1924 to Paris 2024.
• Data were finalist race data for 1553 women and 1641 men from the official World Aquatics database.
• Events included freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly at Olympic distances from 50 to 1500 m.

The most pronounced improvements in final times were in freestyle and long-distance events.

• The abstract states the most pronounced improvements were observed in freestyle and long-distance events.
• Comparisons covered all four strokes and distances from 50 to 1500 m.

The largest percentage improvements in performance occurred in specific Olympic cycles: 1956, 1972, and 2008.

• The authors report these cycles coincided with major developments in pool engineering, competition regulations, training methodologies, and swimsuit technology.
• This is a temporal association from a retrospective design, not a test of causation.

Swimming speeds increased consistently in all events over the period studied.

• Swimming speeds were calculated from final times and event distances.
• The increase was reported across all strokes, distances, and both sexes.

Reaction times improved significantly across Olympic Games during the period in which they were recorded.

• Reaction-time data were only available for part of the 100-year span.
• The abstract describes the improvements as 'significant'.

The study provides a long-term historical overview of performance changes by stroke, distance, and sex, which the authors suggest can serve as benchmarks.

• The authors state the results may be useful for coaches, athletes, and sports scientists to evaluate long-term trends.
• They also suggest the benchmarks can help prepare for future international competitions.