Age- and Gender-Related Differences in Anthropometric Characteristics of Competitive Youth Swimmers Aged 10-14 Years

This cross-sectional study assessed anthropometric profiles and body composition in 78 competitive adolescent swimmers (37 females, 41 males; aged 10-14 years) from Nagpur, Maharashtra, India, recruited via purposive random sampling from swimming clubs (≥2 years experience, 4-5 training days/week; no chronic illness/injuries). Measurements included height, weight (stadiometer, scale), circumferences like mid upper arm, waist, hip, thigh, and calf and shoulder width (flexible tape), skinfold thickness (biceps, triceps, subscapular and suprailiac; Slim Guide calipers, left-side means), and body composition via Durnin-Rahaman (1967)1 density equations (sex-specific), Siri (1956)2 fat%, and Katch-McArdle (1983)3 lean mass. Onesample t-tests (α=0.01, two-tailed; MS-Excel) compared age-group means (10+ to 14+) against reference norms, revealing upper-body dominance (e.g., female 14+: biacromial M=43.00±4.41 cm, t=3.180 vs. std 37.7 cm; male 13+: MUAC M=23.50±2.462 cm, t=4.021 vs. std 27.0 cm), reduced truncal girths/skinfolds (e.g., female 12+: waist below norms), and sex-specific patterns (female 13+ fat peak 30.75±2.30%; male 11+ density 1.0612±0.007 g/mL), yielding ecto-mesomorphic adaptations for propulsion/drag reduction.