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Sports
Special Issues
Performance Analytics and Health Tracking: Toward Lifelong Athletic Sustainability
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Performance Analytics and Health Tracking: Toward Lifelong Athletic Sustainability

A special issue of Sports (ISSN 2075-4663).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 October 2026 | Viewed by 913

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Mário Jorge Costa

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, 420-540, Porto, Portugal
2. Centre for Research, Education, Innovation and Intervention in Sport, 4200-450 Porto, Portugal
Interests: sport sciences; swimming; aquatic exercise; training effects; performance; testing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Catarina Costa Santos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Department of Sport Sciences, Exercise and Health, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal
2. Higher Education School, Polytechnic of Coimbra, 3045-093 Coimbra, Portugal
3. SPRINT, Sport Physical Activity and Health Research & Innovation Center, 3045-093 Coimbra, Portugal
Interests: biomechanics; swimming; water fitness; performance; monitoring
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to bring together cutting-edge research on performance analysis and athlete health monitoring, with a particular emphasis on strategies that support long-term health, resilience and athletic longevity. As competitive sport increasingly relies on advances in analytical methods, wearable technologies and integrated monitoring systems offer unprecedented opportunities to optimize performance while safeguarding athlete well-being across the career lifespan.

The issue will showcase original research and reviews that explore how physiological, biomechanical, psychological, and behavioral data can be used to assess performance, manage training load, prevent injury and promote sustainable athletic development. Contributions addressing innovative methodologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and predictive analytics are especially welcome, as are interdisciplinary approaches that bridge sport science, medicine and technology.

By highlighting both short-term performance outcomes and long-term health implications, this Special Issue seeks to advance a holistic and sustainable model of athlete monitoring, supporting practitioners, researchers and policymakers in fostering peak performance without compromising athlete health and longevity.

Dr. Mário Jorge Costa
Dr. Catarina Costa Santos
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sports is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • performance analysis
  • athlete health monitoring
  • longevity and career span
  • wearable technologies
  • biomarkers of fatigue and recovery
  • injury prevention and risk modeling
  • machine learning and predictive analytics
  • physiological and psychological monitoring

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

13 pages, 2433 KB  
Article
Performance Progression and Stability of Female Swimmers Across Different Swimming Techniques from Childhood to Adulthood
by Francisco A. Ferreira, Mário J. Costa and Catarina C. Santos
Sports 2026, 14(4), 164; https://doi.org/10.3390/sports14040164 - 21 Apr 2026
Viewed by 550
Abstract
The aim of this study was to understand the female swimmers’ annual performance progression and stability between 10 and 18 years across swimming distances and techniques. Data from female Portuguese Top-50 rankings in the short-course pool was extracted from an open access database [...] Read more.
The aim of this study was to understand the female swimmers’ annual performance progression and stability between 10 and 18 years across swimming distances and techniques. Data from female Portuguese Top-50 rankings in the short-course pool was extracted from an open access database (swimrankings.net). Performances were grouped by distances (50-, 100- and 200 m) and techniques (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly), totalizing 12 events as performance metrics. A total of 343 swimmers and 3087 performances distributed by nine consecutive competitive seasons were retrospectively assessed. The mean and normative stability were computed for tracking performance trends, while reporting the year-to-year percentage improvement. The differences across distances and techniques were tested with a linear mixed-effects model using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The performance progression was characterized by marked improvements during the early ages (up to 13% yearly) and an emerging plateau around the 15–16 years. The stability patterns varied between events, with the backstroke technique (ICC = 0.13) demonstrating greater consistency of individual differences on developmental trajectories, whereas shorter races (i.e., 50 m; ICC = 0.15) tended to be more stable than 100 m or 200 m (ICC = 0.12). It can be concluded that female swimmers’ performance stabilizes at the 15–16 years of age. Despite reduced differences, the backstroke technique and short distances seem to show a slightly more stable trend in progressing from childhood to adulthood. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Performance Analytics and Health Tracking: Toward Lifelong Athletic Sustainability)
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