Understanding how swimmers develop.
Race performance, growth and maturation, and the transition from age-group to open swimming.
Youth to open swimming.
My PhD at the University of Sydney, in collaboration with Swimming Australia, focuses on improving the youth–adult transition of high-performing Australian swimmers. The programme brings together performance testing, race analysis and longitudinal monitoring.
Publications.
Race-Performance Parameters Differentiating World-Best From National-Level Swimmers: A Race Video Analysis and Machine-Learning Approach
Video-based race analysis and machine learning were used to examine differences between performance levels in men’s long-course 100 m freestyle.
2025 · Postiglione GL, Abbott S, Newman P, Mitchell LG, Elipot M, Barclay G, Cobley S. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 20(8), 1034–1042.
Advancing athlete development: How Percentile Comparison Methods (PCMs) can identify youth developmental profiles
Research on percentile comparison methods for describing youth swimmers’ developmental profiles.
2024 · Abbott S, Hogan C, Postiglione G, Barclay G, Cobley S. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 27(6), 422–429.
The Longitudinal Mediating Influence of Maturation on the Relationship Between Strength and Performance in Male Youth Swimmers
A longitudinal investigation of maturation, strength and swimming performance in male youth swimmers.
2023 · Abbott S, Leong WE, Gwinn T, Postiglione GL, Salter J, Cobley S. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 18(1), 61–68.
Project H2grOw.
H2grOw is a collaboration between Swimming Australia and the University of Sydney examining growth, maturation and youth swimmer development. I contribute as a PhD researcher within the project team.