IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i20p10561-d652145.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Prevalence and Impact of the Relative Age Effect on Competition Performance in Swimming: A Systematic Review

Author

Listed:
  • Jorge Lorenzo-Calvo

    (Departamento de Deportes, Facultad de Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte—INEF, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, C/Martín Fierro, 728040 Madrid, Spain)

  • Alfonso de la Rubia

    (Departamento de Deportes, Facultad de Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte—INEF, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, C/Martín Fierro, 728040 Madrid, Spain)

  • Daniel Mon-López

    (Departamento de Deportes, Facultad de Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte—INEF, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, C/Martín Fierro, 728040 Madrid, Spain)

  • Monica Hontoria-Galán

    (Departamento de Deportes, Facultad de Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte—INEF, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, C/Martín Fierro, 728040 Madrid, Spain)

  • Moises Marquina

    (Departamento de Deportes, Facultad de Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte—INEF, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, C/Martín Fierro, 728040 Madrid, Spain)

  • Santiago Veiga

    (Departamento de Deportes, Facultad de Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte—INEF, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, C/Martín Fierro, 728040 Madrid, Spain)

Abstract

This systematic review aimed to examine the prevalence of the relative age effect (RAE) in swimming and its impact on competition performance according to different types of interacting constraints. A systematic literature search, following the PRISMA guidelines for preparing systematic reviews, was performed through four electronic databases, and nine studies met the inclusion criteria. The quality of the selected studies was evaluated using STROBE, and an average score of 16.2 points was obtained. In these studies, the prevalence of the RAE in swimming was observed in more than half (58.65%) of the participants analysed, and the effect of the RAE was more accentuated in young categories (decreased as age increased and was inverted in older ones) and in male swimmers (double that in female swimmers).The impact of the RAE on competitive performance appeared to be related to the strength demands of the event, as the performance in simultaneous strokes, in shorter events, and of swimmers in the postadolescence period seems to be more affected by the RAE. These results indicate that the RAE in competitive swimming relies on individual and environmental (the swimmer’s age group and gender) but also task (the competitive events) determinants or limitations. This should serve as a guide for a more effective design of selection and development procedures for young athletes.

Suggested Citation

  • Jorge Lorenzo-Calvo & Alfonso de la Rubia & Daniel Mon-López & Monica Hontoria-Galán & Moises Marquina & Santiago Veiga, 2021. "Prevalence and Impact of the Relative Age Effect on Competition Performance in Swimming: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-19, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:20:p:10561-:d:652145
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/20/10561/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/20/10561/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Maresa Sprietsma, 2010. "Effect of relative age in the first grade of primary school on long-term scholastic results: international comparative evidence using PISA 2003," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 1-32.
    2. Brander James A. & Egan Edward J. & Yeung Louisa, 2014. "Estimating the effects of age on NHL player performance," Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, De Gruyter, vol. 10(2), pages 241-259, June.
    3. Daniel Mon-López & Carlos M. Tejero-González & Alfonso de la Rubia Riaza & Jorge Lorenzo Calvo, 2020. "Pistol and Rifle Performance: Gender and Relative Age Effect Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-10, February.
    4. William Hurley & Dan Lior & Steven Tracze, 2001. "A Proposal to Reduce the Age Discrimination in Canadian Minor Hockey," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 27(1), pages 65-75, March.
    5. Alfonso de la Rubia Riaza & Jorge Lorenzo Calvo & Daniel Mon-López & Alberto Lorenzo, 2020. "Impact of the Relative Age Effect on Competition Performance in Basketball: A Qualitative Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-31, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Claire Crawford & Lorraine Dearden & Ellen Greaves, 2013. "Identifying the drivers of month of birth differences in educational attainment," DoQSS Working Papers 13-07, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    2. Luís Martins & Manuel Coutinho Pereira, 2017. "Disentangling the channels from birthdate to educational attainment," Working Papers w201706, Banco de Portugal, Economics and Research Department.
    3. Eduard Nikolayevich Bezuglov & Pantelis Theodoros Nikolaidis & Vladimir Khaitin & Elvira Usmanova & Anastasiya Luibushkina & Alexey Repetiuk & Zbigniew Waśkiewicz & Dagmara Gerasimuk & Thomas Rosemann, 2019. "Prevalence of Relative Age Effect in Russian Soccer: The Role of Chronological Age and Performance," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-10, October.
    4. Diaz-Serrano, Luis & Meix-Llop, Enric, 2012. "Do Fiscal and Political Decentralization Raise Students' Performance? A Cross-Country Analysis," IZA Discussion Papers 6722, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Addona Vittorio & Yates Philip A, 2010. "A Closer Look at the Relative Age Effect in the National Hockey League," Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, De Gruyter, vol. 6(4), pages 1-19, October.
    6. Dawid, Herbert & Muehlheusser, Gerd, 2012. "Repeated Selection with Heterogenous Individuals and Relative Age Effects," IZA Discussion Papers 6478, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Fumarco Luca & Carlsson Magnus & Gibbs Benjamin G., 2020. "Erasmus Exchange Program – A Matter of (Relatively) Older Students," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 20(4), pages 1-14, October.
    8. Caterina Calsamiglia & Annalisa Loviglio, 2020. "Maturity and school outcomes in an inflexible system: evidence from Catalonia," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 11(1), pages 1-49, March.
    9. Peña, Pablo A., 2017. "Creating winners and losers: Date of birth, relative age in school, and outcomes in childhood and adulthood," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 152-176.
    10. Assanskiy, Artur & Shaposhnikov, Daniil & Tylkin, Igor & Vasiliev, Gleb, 2022. "Prove them wrong: Do professional athletes perform better when facing their former clubs?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    11. Rubén Navarro-Patón & Joaquín Lago-Ballesteros & Víctor Arufe-Giráldez & Alberto Sanmiguel-Rodríguez & Carlos Lago-Fuentes & Marcos Mecías-Calvo, 2021. "Gender Differences on Motor Competence in 5-Year-Old Preschool Children Regarding Relative Age," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-10, March.
    12. Dawid, Herbert & Muehlheusser, Gerd, 2015. "Repeated selection with heterogeneous individuals and relative age effects," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 387-406.
    13. Ryan, Chris, 2013. "What is behind the decline in student achievement in Australia?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 226-239.
    14. Hurley, W.J., 2009. "Equitable birthdate categorization systems for organized minor sports competition," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 192(1), pages 253-264, January.
    15. Fumarco, L. & Baert, S. & Sarracino, F., 2020. "Younger, dissatisfied, and unhealthy – Relative age in adolescence," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    16. Juan Carlos Giraldo García & Elena Hernández-Hernández, 2021. "Influence of the Tertile of Birth on Anthropometric Variables, Anaerobic Parameters and Quantitative Muscle Ultrasound in School Children," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-13, July.
    17. Fumarco, Luca & Baert, Stijn, 2018. "Younger and Dissatisfied? Relative Age and Life-satisfaction in Adolescence," MPRA Paper 89968, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Claire Crawford & Lorraine Dearden & Ellen Greaves, 2013. "The impact of age within academic year on adult outcomes," DoQSS Working Papers 13-05, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    19. Griffin Jim E. & Hinoveanu Laurenţiu C. & Hopker James G., 2022. "Bayesian modelling of elite sporting performance with large databases," Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, De Gruyter, vol. 18(4), pages 253-268, December.
    20. Katarzyna Gabrys & Antoni Wontorczyk, 2023. "Sport Anxiety, Fear of Negative Evaluation, Stress and Coping as Predictors of Athlete’s Sensitivity to the Behavior of Supporters," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(12), pages 1-14, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:20:p:10561-:d:652145. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.