Participation profiles of current masters swimmers and their (lack of) retrospective associations with youth experiences

Abstract National athlete development models often give little consideration to the multiple ways in which adults might participate in sport (i.e., recreationally or competitively, through sampling or specialization), or their trajectories into specific patterns of adult sport participation. Using adult swimmers' current and retrospective (youth swimming) data, the purpose of this study was threefold: a) to identify profiles of masters swimmers based on participation characteristics, b) to explore demographic differences between profiles, and c) to retrospectively examine these profiles for meaningful associations with youth swimming experiences. Survey data were collected from 205 Canadian masters swimmers with previous competitive youth swimming experience (M age = 44.4, range = 18–85; 60% women, 40% men). Two-step clustering analysis of masters' current swimming participation resulted in three distinct profiles: 1) “low-competitive specializers,” 2) “high-competitive specializers,” and 3) “samplers.” These profiles were not significantly associated with any demographic variables in adulthood, nor did they differ in terms of youth swimming experiences and time to transition into masters swimming. The remarkable homogeneity of social-demographic variables suggests that further work is needed to make masters swimming more inviting to diverse adult populations. Retrospective data revealed disengagement and later re-engagement in swimming that was consistent across masters profiles. Implications of these findings for coaches and programmers, as well as the need to account for adults' potentially complex re-entries into sport after time away, are discussed.