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J Appl Physiol 94: 764-769, 2003. First published October 18, 2002; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00438.2002
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Vol. 94, Issue 2, 764-769, February 2003

Declines in physiological functional capacity with age: a longitudinal study in peak swimming performance

Anthony J. Donato1, Kathleen Tench2, Deborah H. Glueck2, Douglas R. Seals1,3, Iratxe Eskurza1, and Hirofumi Tanaka1

1 Department of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder 80309; and Departments of 2 Preventive Medicine and Biometrics, and 3 Medicine, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado 80262

We followed up swimming performance times of 321 women and 319 men who participated in the US Masters Swimming Championships over a 12-yr period. All swimmers placed in the top 10 in their age group over 3 yr (mean = 5 yr). A random coefficients model for repeated measures was used to derive a line of best fit from a group of regression lines for each subject. Both 50- and 1,500-m swimming performance declined modestly until ~70 yr of age, where a more rapid decline was observed in both men and women. Compared with 1,500-m swimming, the 50-m freestyle declined more modestly and slowly with age. The rate and magnitude of declines in swimming performance with age were greater in women than in men in 50-m freestyle; such sex-related differences were not observed in 1,500-m freestyle. Overall, the variability along a population regression line increased markedly with advancing age. The present longitudinal findings indicate that 1) swimming performance declines progressively until age 70, where the decrease becomes quadratic; 2) the rates of the decline in swimming performance with age are greater in a long-duration than in a short-duration event, suggesting a relatively smaller loss of anaerobic muscular power with age compared with cardiovascular endurance; 3) the age-related rates of decline are greater in women than in men only in a short-duration event; and 4) the variability of the age-related decline in performance increases markedly with advancing age.

exercise performance; physical work capacity


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