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Influence Of Sport Specialization On Athletic Performance And Injury Risk In Collegiate Swimmers, Samantha M. Gunn, Gerald T. Mangine, Trisha A. Vandusseldorp, Garrett M. Hester

The Kennesaw Journal of Undergraduate Research

To assess the effect of swimming specialization on performance and injury risk in collegiate swimmers, thirty collegiate swimmers (20.1 ± 0.9 years [18.5 – 22.3 years]) were asked to complete an anonymous survey to provide information regarding their sports participation history, success in swimming, and the occurrence and quantity of swimming-related injuries. Specialization status was determined by the swimmer claiming they had specialized and by the number of months (≥ 8 months) they participated in swimming each year. Correlation analysis revealed several significant (p < 0.05) relationships between all determinants of specialization, swimming success, and swimming injuries. Stepwise regression analysis revealed that the age which an athlete specialized was the best predictor of the occurrence of a swimming- related injury (R² = 0.34, p = 0.004) and the number of injuries sustained (R² = 0.25, …