Older or Wiser? Age and Experience Trends in 20 Years of Olympic and World Swimming Championships Open Water 10-km Races

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

jfmk-1430231

 

Lines 31-32: add a reference

Lines 32-34: add a reference

Lines 34-35: add a reference

Lines 36-38: add a reference

Lines 48-49: for which disciplines?

Line 50: add a reference

Line 55-57: add a reference

Lines 70-71: add a reference

Line 80: Ironman

Lines 81-83: add a reference

Line 100: how many years for the sixteen editions?

Figure 1: add the unit at the y-axis and the x-axis is nearly impossible to read

Line 267: what are the practical applications, the implications for future research?

Author Response

Response to Reviewer 1 Comments

 

First of all, we would like to thank the reviewers for their detailed revision of the manuscript and for their valuable suggestions that surely will improve the quality of the manuscript. Each of the reviewer comments have been addressed below and changes have been indicated on the manuscript with red colour. Additionally, a small correction was done in lines 41 and 213 about the APP results of previous studies

 

Point 1: Lines 31-32: add a reference 


 

Response 1: Added

 

Point 2: Lines 32-34: add a reference 


 

Response 2: Added

 

Point 3: Lines 34-35: add a reference 


 

Response 3: Added

 

Point 4: Lines 36-38: add a reference 


 

Response 4: Added

 

Point 5: for which disciplines?


 

Response 5: Disciplines were specified as requested by reviewer.

 

Point 6: Lines 50: add a reference 


 

Response 6: Added

 

Point 7: Lines 55-57: add a reference 


 

Response 7: Added

 

Point 8: Lines 70-71: add a reference 


 

Response 8: Added

 

Point 9: Ironman 


 

Response 9: Modified as requested

 

Point 10: Lines 81-83: add a reference

 

Response 10: Added

 

Point 11: Line 100: how many years for the sixteen editions?

 

Response 11: The years for the WCH events are specified in the following sentence: “It should be noted that the first edition of the open water World Open Water Swimming Championships was held in 2000, after which it was held every year until 2011 and every two years thereafter”

 

Point 12: Figure 1: add the unit at the y-axis and the x-axis is nearly impossible to read

 

Response 12: Following the reviewers recommendations, some changes has been done in Figure 1 and 3.

 

Point 13: Line 267: what are the practical applications, the implications for future research?

 

Response 13: It has been included in Practical applications section

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reviewer 2 Report

ABSTRACT

Well presented and structured

INTRODUCTION

The introduction provides enough background information for readers to understand the research aim, however, the authors should clarify the importance of this topic.

I would recommend summarizing the introduction to clarify the topic and provide a concise research aim

METHODS

The methodology proposed looks appropriate, well designed, and conducted.

 

RESULTS

Results include the most relevant data.

All of the tables explain in a correct direction the data obtained.

The quality of figures are poor

 

DISCUSSION

Discuss the importance and novelty of the data obtained

The conclusion should concisely respond to the research aim

Explain applications according to the study conclusion

 

English language must be check

Author Response

Response to Reviewer 2 Comments

First of all, we would like to thank the reviewers for their detailed revision of the manuscript and for their valuable suggestions that surely will improve the quality of the manuscript. Each of the reviewer comments have been addressed below and changes have been indicated on the manuscript with red colour. Additionally, a small correction was done in lines 41 and 213 about the APP results of previous studies

Point 1: The quality of figures are poor 
 

Response 1: Following the reviewers recommendations, some changes has been done in Figure 1 and 3.

Reviewer 3 Report

Interesting article in which the authors decided to estimate the age of peak performance in open water races and to examine the role of previous experience at the world level on open water race performances.

 

In the introduction, based on the literature, the state of knowledge on research on competitors taking part in long-distance swimming competitions is presented.

 

The methods are well described, allowing you to recreate all the analyzes.

The results are presented in tables and graphically. Based on them, we can better understand the relationship between age of peak performance and previous experience at the world level on open water race performances.

The discussion is well written. The authors explained the results obtained in their research by referring them to the literature.

 

However, I have a small comment relating to the "data analysis" part. The authors do not provide criteria for the interpretation of how they considered the top-10 finishing positions in each 10-km race were to be successful participants, but refer to their previous work (line 115). Considering that the work the authors refer to is published in a paid journal, I believe that such a description should be included in this part of the work. 

Author Response

Response to Reviewer 3 Comments

First of all, we would like to thank the reviewers for their detailed revision of the manuscript and for their valuable suggestions that surely will improve the quality of the manuscript. Each of the reviewer comments have been addressed below and changes have been indicated on the manuscript with red colour. Additionally, a small correction was done in lines 41 and 213 about the APP results of previous studies

Point 1: The authors do not provide criteria for the interpretation of how they considered the top-10 finishing positions in each 10-km race were to be successful participants, but refer to their previous work (line 115). Considering that the work the authors refer to is published in a paid journal, I believe that such a description should be included in this part of the work


Response 1: The explanation as to why the top-10 finishing positions were considered as successful participants is given in the following sentence: “This metric was used as the top-10 positions in the WCH race the year prior to the OG are directly classified for the next OG edition”