Objective of the study was to analyze the age-specific sport progress trajectory design models with the progress profiled by the relevant performance, fitness and physicality test rates versus the competitive accomplishments in modern swimming. Subject to the study were the nation-strongest 11-17 year-old male swimmers (n=1400 plus) for the period of 1962 to 2010, with variations of their core physical fitness and functionality rates (including strength rates) being subject to a special analysis. The anthropometrical data of the sample were obtained by the commonly accepted methods, and the age-specific progress rates of the swimmers were mined in the FINA (International Swimming Sport Federation) records of the world-strongest swimmers. An exponential equation was used to approximate the years-long variations in the swimmers` performance/ progress rates and accomplishments. The key findings of the study are as follows: as verified by the success histories of the elite swimmers, the age-specific competitive progress rates have notably changed for the last few decades. The growing ages of the finalists in the top-ranking international events and the top-ten world-strongest swimmers shall be interpreted as the recent progress in the sport longevity rather than a longer training period required to train an elite swimmer.
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