As We Age, Part 1. How Much Speed and Stamina Do We Lose?

Steven Munatones

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By Open Water Author & World Record Holder Steven Munatones

Completing a triathlon, swimming across a channel, or doing a marathon run requires stamina and strength. If you want to be competitive across age groups or within your age group, add speed to that equation. With an increasing number of athletes competing as they age, I researched how speed, stamina and strength can decrease as we age – at least among the elite, highly motivated masters athletes.

In Part 1 of As We Age, I look at how much of speed and stamina is lost among the fastest masters swimmers and the fastest masters runners as they age [see below]. In this study, I compared how much speed and stamina is lost among the fastest American masters swimmers in a 50m outdoor pool versus how much speed and strength is lost among the fastest American masters runners on an outdoor track as they age.

Four Events to Compare

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

In a podcast (listen here) by Dr. Peter Attia, a longevity expert and competitive masters athlete, he talked about how both speed and strength “fall off a cliff” as people age into their 70s.

So I 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 in 4 charts. 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.

Chart 1 – 400m Swim Percent Difference from American Record [see attached]
Chart 2 – 1500m Swim Percent Difference from American Record [see attached]
Chart 3 – 1500m Run Percent Difference from American Record [see attached]
Chart 4 – 10,000m Run Percent Difference from American Record [see attached]

These graphs, produced by accomplished masters swimmer Melodee Liegl, show the following:

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

In a subsequent analyses of raw data, I want to look at the following in the future:

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: —

Watch Steven’s Full Interview Here

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