Comparative Study of Body Composition of Medallist and Non-Medallist Swimmers from Pune City

Abstract

This research aimed to compare the anthropometric characteristics of male swimmers aged 16 to 21 years in Pune city, differentiating between medallist’s and non-medallists, and to examine their relationship with sports performance. Anthropometry is considered a significant factor influencing sports performance, especially in sports like swimming that involve the entire body. A purposive sampling technique was used to select 24 swimmers (12 medallist’s, 12 non-medallist’s) for the study. Factors such as weight, height, BMI, basal metabolic rate, body fat percentage, and fat-free mass were measured and statistically analysed. According to the results of descriptive statistics and independent samples t-test, no statistically significant difference was found between the two groups in weight, height, BMI, and BMR (p > 0.05). However, body fat percentage was the only factor that showed a highly significant difference between the medallist and non-medallist groups (p = 0.000). Medallist swimmers were found to have significantly lower body fat percentage, although the difference in fat-free mass was minor and not statistically significant. Overall, this study concluded that general anthropometric measurements such as height, weight, or BMI are not the primary determinants of success in swimming, but rather body fat percentage is the characteristic that most significantly impacts competitive performance. Therefore, coaches and athletes should place special emphasis on managing body fat percentage and scientifically improving the body composition of athletes in their training plans.