Transition experiences of high performance Canadian and Australian female competitive swimmers
| dc.contributor.author | Musselman, D'arcey Michelle | |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Howe, Bruce L. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-02-14T00:14:13Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-02-14T00:14:13Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2000 | |
| dc.degree.department | School of Physical Education | |
| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this study was to explore the transitional experiences of a purposive sample of six Canadian and four Australian former, female, national team swimmers. A semi-structured audiotaped. telephone interview was used to provide infom1ation on the participants' sport experience, transition process, and new life. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed for common themes. The results showed that during the respondents' swimming careers, Canadian participants had less access to financial support and were more likely to pursue post-secondary education in contrast to their Australian swimming colleagues. However, these differences did not appear to make a distinction between the two groupsĀ· perceptions of transition. All of the participants experienced a period of adjustment when they left swimming. This adjustment period typically was connected to the participants' concerns about their body weight and loss of identity. There was some evidence to support that participants who left sport for voluntary reasons and eased out of swimming were less likely to experience difficulties following their departure from sport than were those who retired for involuntary reasons and stopped swimming abruptly. ln addition, coping with retirement appeared to be facilitated by establishing a strong network of social support, planning for transition, and finding a new focus. Generally, the majority of the participants had successfully adjusted to their post-athletic life and were happy with their experiences. | |
| dc.description.scholarlevel | Graduate | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1828/23320 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.rights | Available to the World Wide Web | |
| dc.title | Transition experiences of high performance Canadian and Australian female competitive swimmers | |
| dc.type | Thesis |