Natação: permanência de mulheres atletas da categoria sênior no estado do Paraná

Abstract

Swimming is a cyclic sport, practiced in the water. Its benefits can be observed in the cardiopulmonary system and motor capacity by practitioners. It is an individual modality, which requires high concentration and motivation to be continued. Also, there has been an increasingly reduction in the amount of female athletes, with over 20 years old in the swimming modality. This study proposes to identify the main reasons why female athletes at senior category in swimming competitions in the state of Paraná continue doing this sport. That is a cross-sectional, qualitative and quantitative study. The questionnaire was applied to 10 swimmers, senior category, aged 23,3 ± 2,72 (mean ± SD), registered in the Brazilian Aquatics Sports Confederation, in the state of Paraná. The data were collected, tabulated and analysed, using review of literature. The participants practice swimming 2 – 5 times a week, often with different sections for each participant, and each training has 2 hours. Some participants make complementary training outside water, e.g.: pilates, running and weight training. The mean injuries found in the participants are in their shoulders, tendinitis and bursitis, and in their knees, bursitis and patellar tendinitis. Most participants receive financial incentive by governmental programs, and some athletes receive a company supports. Over half of the participants have other financial return. Every research participant has finished high school. Over half of them are taking an undergraduate course, some of them have already graduated and one student is in a graduation course. The main factors identified for their permanency at sport were: to overcome the results, the financial incentive offered by the government and travel to competitions. Also, the main motivations identified for the athletes´ permanency in the sports were: family’s support, friend’s support and coach’s support.