Sex Differences in World Record Performance: The Influence of Sport Discipline and Competition Duration A Scandinavian group has analyzed the results of the literature regarding the influence of sports discipline and competition duration for the difference between man and woman. As a rule, the difference between the sexes is 8-12% for most analyzed disciplines and routes.Differences show itself when the upper body is required, the difference is often over 12%. In long-distance swimming, women approached around 5% to men.
Men have the advantage that they are greater, have more muscles and less fat and can produce more energy. The work can be found at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Pubmed/28488921