Medical student Baxter Smelzer is working with Dr. Caitlyn Haines, a sports medicine physician at Penn State College of Medicine, on a research project examining collegiate swim coaches’ perceptions of detraining and how time away from the water affects swimmers’ performance and how long it takes them to return to their previous level. They are seeking collegiate swim coaches to answer their survey study.
Survey Link
The survey is anonymous, participation is voluntary, and it should take only a few minutes to complete. It asks about coaches’ observations of performance changes following training breaks and strategies used to help swimmers return to performance.
Smelzer and Haines plan to submit our findings for publication in a sports medicine journal and presentation at a national conference. By bringing coaches’ real-world experience into sports medicine research, they hope to help physicians, athletic trainers, and coaches better support swimmers through training interruptions and recovery from injury. As for swimmers, they hope to aid all those who are involved in the sport with this medical research.
