As You Age, How Much Do You Slow Down in Swimming versus Running?

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Athletes are swimming, biking, running, climbing, rowing, hiking, and competing at increasingly older ages. Last October, we wrote about septuagenarians, octogenarians, and nonagenarians doing marathon swims, running marathon, climbing Mount Everest, and doing triathlons in an article entitled Who Will Be The First Octogenarian To Swim The English Channel?

But we also wondered how much of our speed and stamina do we tend to lose as we age? Also, how much speed and stamina do swimmers lose compared to runners as they age?

So we considered four different events in both genders:

400 meter freestyle in a 50m pool
1500 meter freestyle in a 50m pool
1500 meter run on an outdoor track
10,000 meter run on an outdoor track

We compared the current overall American record to the records in each recognized masters age division, in both genders. In swimming and running, the recognized age divisions are as follows:

Swimming: 18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, 75-79, 80-84, 85-89, 90-94, 95-99, 100+
Running: 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, 75-79, 80-84, 85-89, 90-94, 95-99, 100+

The results are plotted below. The American record is plotted on the x axis at 0. As the masters records generally get slower as the athletes age along the x axis. This slowing is represented by the dots that slope upwards.

From the graphs that we produced by masters swimmer Melodee Liegl, the findings are interesting:

as the fastest swimmers and fastest runners age, they slow down at relatively steady percentage
it appears that swimmers are able to hold slightly closer to the American record as they age compared to runners
it appears that swimmers are able to hold slightly closer to the American record as they age at 1500m compared to 400m
at age 75, female swimmers suddenly get slower by a significant relative degree, both at 400 meters and 1500 meters
at age 80, female runners suddenly get slower by a significant relative degree, both at 1500 meters and 10,000 meters

Additionally, analyses will be conducted in the future. We want to look at the following:

differences in swimming age records in freestyle compared to butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and individual medley
differences in running age records comparing the 100 meter dash versus the 42 km marathon
comparing the 25th ranked swimmer and runner in each age group relative to the American record holder as all these record holders are outliers. It will be interesting to see if there are any differences between the fastest and the 25th fastest athletes in both sports and distances

The raw data is below for reference purposes.

Swimming Records (freestyle, long-course meters) – Women’s Age Divisions 400 meters

American women’s record: 3:56.46
18-24 women’s record: 4:16.72
25-29 women’s record: 4:13.03
30-34 women’s record: 4:17.52
35-39 women’s record: 4:16.19
40-44 women’s record: 4:22.87
45-49 women’s record: 4:30.64
50-54 women’s record: 4:40.66
55-59 women’s record: 4:46.49
60-64 women’s record: 4:59.82
65-69 women’s record: 5:12.80
70-74 women’s record: 5:21.19
75-79 women’s record: 6:27.04
80-84 women’s record: 7:24.53
85-89 women’s record: 8:06.04
90-94 women’s record: 9:04.93
95-99 women’s record: 10:12.49
100+ women’s record: —

Swimming Records (freestyle, long-course meters) – Women’s Age Divisions 1500 meters

American women’s record: 15:20.48
18-24 women’s record: 17:22.39
25-29 women’s record: 16:39.77
30-34 women’s record: 17:07.54
35-39 women’s record: 17:17.22
40-44 women’s record: 17:17.22
45-49 women’s record: 17:26.47
50-54 women’s record: 18:15.80
55-59 women’s record: 18:36.30
60-64 women’s record: 19:23.70
65-69 women’s record: 20:41.53
70-74 women’s record: 21:02.79
75-79 women’s record: 26:00.10
80-84 women’s record: 29:04.81
85-89 women’s record: 31:29.52
90-94 women’s record: 36:02.20
95-99 women’s record: 41:39.68
100+ women’s record: —

Swimming Records (freestyle, long-course meters) – Men’s Age Divisions 400 meters

American men’s record: 3:42.78
18-24 men’s record: 4:04.68
25-29 men’s record: 3:55.01
30-34 men’s record: 3:58.12
35-39 men’s record: 4:07.64
40-44 men’s record: 4:06.74
45-49 men’s record: 4:09.20
50-54 men’s record: 4:15.93
55-59 men’s record: 4:22.49
60-64 men’s record: 4:35.36
65-69 men’s record: 4:37.70
70-74 men’s record: 4:57.84
75-79 men’s record: 5:17.77
80-84 men’s record: 5:45.21
85-89 men’s record: 6:38.87
90-94 men’s record: 8:01.57
95-99 men’s record: 8:43.18
100+ men’s record: 10:55.25

Swimming (freestyle, long-course meters) – Men’s Age Divisions 1500 meters

American men’s record: 14:31.59
18-24 men’s record: 16:59.40
25-29 men’s record: 15:49.04
30-34 men’s record: 15:52.24
35-39 men’s record: 16:32.72
40-44 men’s record: 16:36.91
45-49 men’s record: 16:38.81
50-54 men’s record: 17:08.33
55-59 men’s record: 17:22.61
60-64 men’s record: 17:55.91
65-69 men’s record: 19:28.61
70-74 men’s record: 20:26.12
75-79 men’s record: 21:02.80
80-84 men’s record: 22:16.90
85-89 men’s record: 26:18.37
90-94 men’s record: 31:12.82
95-99 men’s record: 33:39.77
100+ men’s record: 42:27.06

Running (outdoor track) – Women’s Age Divisions 1500 meters

American women’s record: 3:54.99
19-24 women’s record: —
25-29 women’s record: —
30-34 women’s record: —
35-39 women’s record: 4:00.35
40-44 women’s record: 4:10.16
45-49 women’s record: 4:29.61
50-54 women’s record: 4:41.21
55-59 women’s record: 4:47.62
60-64 women’s record: 5:02.38
65-69 women’s record: 5:25.65
70-74 women’s record: 5:59.18
75-79 women’s record: 6:14.88
80-84 women’s record: 7:39.05
85-89 women’s record: 10:55.01
90-94 women’s record: 11:30.62
95-99 women’s record: 20:27.85
100+ women’s record: —

Running (outdoor track) – Women’s Age Divisions 10,000 meters

American women’s record: 30:03.82
19-24 women’s record: —
25-29 women’s record: —
30-34 women’s record: —
35-39 women’s record: 31:28.92
40-44 women’s record: 34:53.32
45-49 women’s record: 34:44.78
50-54 women’s record: 37:04.87
55-59 women’s record: 37:40.99
60-64 women’s record: 41:10.57
65-69 women’s record: 42:34.97
70-74 women’s record: 46:38.50
75-79 women’s record: 46:53.07
80-84 women’s record: 1:01:22.26
85-89 women’s record: 1:36:39.48
90-94 women’s record: —
95-99 women’s record: —
100+ women’s record: —

Running (outdoor track) – Men’s Age Divisions 1500 meters

American men’s record: 3:27.40
19-24 men’s record: —
25-29 men’s record: —
30-34 men’s record: —
35-39 men’s record: 3:31.51
40-44 men’s record: 3:41.87
45-49 men’s record: 3:55.09
50-54 men’s record: 4:01.77
55-59 men’s record: 4:17.80
60-64 men’s record: 4:24.00
65-69 men’s record: 4:46.05
70-74 men’s record: 5:04.87
75-79 men’s record: 5:19.87
80-84 men’s record: 6:04.28
85-89 men’s record: 7:19.51
90-94 men’s record: 8:57.61
95-99 men’s record: 12:16.93
100+ men’s record: —

Running (outdoor track) – Men’s Age Divisions 10,000 meters

American men’s record: 26:33.84
19-24 men’s record: —
25-29 men’s record: —
30-34 men’s record: —
35-39 men’s record: 27:58.88
40-44 men’s record: 27:49.35
45-49 men’s record: 29:44.87
50-54 men’s record: 30:48.87
55-59 men’s record: 33:00.66
60-64 men’s record: 34:30.44
65-69 men’s record: 37:16.46
70-74 men’s record: 38:23.69
75-79 men’s record: 43:39.40
80-84 men’s record: 44:29.26
85-89 men’s record: 54:19.28
90-94 men’s record: 1:11:40.78
95-99 men’s record: —
100+ men’s record: —

Graphics created by Melodee Liegl.

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As You Age, How Much Do You Slow Down in Swimming versus Running?

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