Bayesian approach to quantify morphological impact on performance in international elite freestyle swimming.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to quantify the impact of morphological characteristics on freestyle swimming performance by event and gender.

Design: Height, mass, body mass index (BMI) and speed data were collected for the top 100 international male and female swimmers from 50 to 1500 m freestyle events for the 2000-2014 seasons.

Methods: Several Bayesian hierarchical regressions were performed on race speed with height, mass and BMI as predictors.