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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sports Act. Living

Sec. Exercise Physiology

Determinants of pre-adolescent girls' sport performance in three-year swimming training

Provisionally accepted
Mariusz Janusz KuberskiMariusz Janusz Kuberski1*Agnieszka MusialAgnieszka Musial2Piotr KrużołekPiotr Krużołek3Michalina BłażkiewiczMichalina Błażkiewicz4Jacek WąsikJacek Wąsik1Jan KonarskiJan Konarski5
  • 1Uniwersytet Jana Dlugosza w Czestochowie, Częstochowa, Poland
  • 2School of Biological and Behavioral Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
  • 3Sports Championship Secondary School Complex in Racibórz, Poland, Racibórz, Poland
  • 4Akademia Wychowania Fizycznego Jozefa Pilsudskego w Warszawie, Warsaw, Poland
  • 5Akademia Wychowania Fizycznego im Eugeniusza Piaseckiego w Poznaniu, Poznań, Poland

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Aims The aim of the study was to identify which anthropometric, physiological, and respiratory parameters are the most important determinants of 400m front crawl swimming performance among prepubescent, non-elite female swimmers. Materials and Methods The study group consisted of 14 swimmers (mean biological age at baseline: 10.52 ± 0.37 years; body mass: 34.99 ± 2.77 kg; height: 146.00 ± 3.05 cm). The study was conducted over three years. The swimmers followed endurance training recommended by the British Swimming Federation. Every six months, the following parameters were measured: percentage of body fat, anthropometric variables, aerobic and anaerobic capacity, respiratory parameters (vital capacity [VC], forced expiratory volume in 1 second [FEV₁], forced vital capacity [FVC]), and a 400m front crawl swimming test. Results After accounting for multicollinearity, the most influential factors determining 400m front crawl performance were foot dimensions, VC and % body fat. Other somatic and physiological predictors had a less of an impact on swimming performance. Conclusions The 400m front crawl performance among prepubescent girls is not determined by aerobic capacity but rather by foot length and respiratory indicators.

Keywords: Swimming, Front crawl, longitudinal study, girls, Measurement

Received: 26 Sep 2025; Accepted: 17 Nov 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Kuberski, Musial, Krużołek, Błażkiewicz, Wąsik and Konarski. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Mariusz Janusz Kuberski, m.kuberski@ujd.edu.pl

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material