Dropout in German Age-Group Swimming

German Swimming has lost connection to the increasing world class level. Reasons are seen in complex defizits of the training processes (Pfützner, 2013). On one hand there is a claim for earlier training start and higher training volume at young age (Güllich, 2013; Lambertz, 2014; Rudolph et al., 2006) on the other hand scientific finding emphasize the successful “side-enteres” in the system (Güllich & Emrich, 2012; Sokolovas, 2006). The longitudinal investigation of carreers of German age-group swimmers may reveal evidences for the long term development. Therefore, we investigated drop-out rate in age-group swimming. For the calculation 100 best age-group swimming peformances (longcourse) in eight susequent years (2004-2013) were dissected. The age-groups 1993 - 1995 (m/f) were observed (male n = 1.862; female n = 1.993). For calculating the dropout rate swimmers ranked, in thirteen different events, at the age of 11 where followed until the age of 18. The mean dropout rate was 68.2 ± 6.5%, independent from age-group, strokes and sex. Less than one of three swimmers who were ranked in the top-100 in their age-group with 11 years is still in at least one event ranked at the age of 18. About 33% of all swimmers were ranked only one time in the observed years, and only 11.2% were ranked in every single year. We conclude that there are only a few continuous carriers among age-group-swimmers. This is in contrast to the German support system and long term development planning and should be addressed in future research. Güllich, A. (2013). Talente im Sport. In A. Güllich (Ed.), Sport (pp. 624–653). Heidelberg: Springer Verlag. Güllich, A., & Emrich, E. (2012). Individualistic and Collectivistic Approach in Athlete Support Programmes in the German High-Performance Sport System. European Journal for Sport and Society, 9(4), 243–268. Lambertz, H. (2014). Das Perspektiv-Team-Projekt. Kassel. Pfützner, A. (2013). Internationale und nationale Tendenzen der Leistungssportentwicklung auf Grundlage der Ergebnisse der Olympischen Spiele in London 2012. Leistungssport, 1. Rudolph, K., Wiedner, H., Jedamsky, A., Spahl, O., & Döttling, W. (2006). Nachwuchskonzeption im Schwimmen. Sokolovas, G. (2006). Analysis of USA Swimming’s All-Time Top 100 Times. In J. P. Vilas-Boas, F. Alves, & A. Marques (Eds.), Proceedings of the Xth International Symposium on Biomechanics and Medicine in Swimming (Vol. 6, pp. 315–317). Porto: University of Porto.