Transitions in the Careers of Competitive Swimmers: To Continue or Finish with Elite Sport?

Abstract

An athletic career is a succession of stages and transitions (normative and non-normative), which may have decisive effects on either maintaining a satisfactory and/or successful course or deciding about premature career termination. The main purpose of this study was to identify differences between swimmers (Mage = 21.32, SD = 2.62) who after undergoing the transition from junior to senior level either: (a) continued their career hoping to improve their performance regardless of low success at the elite level—Group I; or (b) decided on premature athletic career termination—Group II. The criteria for inclusion included having undergone the transition from junior to senior level and having competed at elite level for at least a year (M = 4.14 years, SD = 1.74). The participants were administered a demographic survey and a structured interview. The results revealed differences in developmental stages. The exploration phase was longer (MGroup I = 5.8 yrs, SD = 2.04, MGroup II = 4.6 yrs, SD = 2.4; Z = −1.902, p = 0.057); the commitment phase was shorter (MGroup I = 3.6 yrs, SD = 1.3; MGroup II = 4.6 yrs, SD = 1.7; Z = −1.735, p = 0.083); the number of hours of structured practice were (MGroup I = 5975, SD = 2474; MGroup II = 7623, SD = 2660, Z = −1.928, p = 0.054); the number of perceived costs were (Group I = 22, Group II = 34; Z = −2.209, p = 0.0027); and the most often pointed benefits of a sporting career were (Group I—94% health & physical fitness; Group II—88% personal growth & life skills). Furthermore, essential inhibitors and facilitators of athletes’ development were identified. The findings of the study have practical applications for athletes, coaches, parents and sport psychology professionals. For instance, appropriate social support can help to prevent elite athletes’ premature career termination from professional sport during and after their normative transition from junior to senior level.

Normative data and percentile curves for long-term athlete development in swimming

“…Resulting lower training effort, lack of motivation or accumulated injuries may explain the drop in performance before these swimmers eventually end their career. 25 This natural deselection of low ranked swimmers may explain the increased SD towards elite age.…”

Athlete Mental Health and Wellbeing During the Transition into Elite Sport: Strategies to Prepare the System

“…Some describe that unfamiliarity with the team, club and organisational culture feed into poor clarity regarding behavioural expectations [ 27 ]. Relational issues within the sport setting may be experienced during this phase, with some athletes reporting conflict with coaches and difficulty coping with negative performance feedback [ 22 , 24 , 27 , 30 ].…”

Udvikling- og testning af Det Danske Talentudviklingsmiljø-Spørgeskema (DTS) - et Redskab til at Måle Kvalitet og Karakteristika af Lokale Talentmiljøer

“…Et par af items ser ud til ikke at vaere af høj relevans for svømme-atlet målgruppen som naevnt tidligere, og derfor bør DTS testes på en større stikprøve over en raekke sportsgrene for at tage bedre højde for idraetsspecifikke forskelle. Derudover kan målgruppen på 15-19 vaere for bred for svømning i perspektivet af talentudvikling, da svømmeatleter intensiverer traeningen og når deres topniveau i en tidligere alder end de fleste andre idraetter (Siekanska & Blecharz, 2020).…”