The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on swimmers in Poland

Study aim: To assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health, lifestyle, training loads and competition starts of swimmers in Poland in 2020.

Material and methods: The study was conducted in the form of a questionnaire on group of 123 Polish swimmers in 2020. The survey asked about differences in training, lifestyle and well-being following the introduction of pandemic restrictions. The mean age of the athletes was 23 years ± 7.6 and training experience 10 years ± 5.3.

Results: The majority of swimmers (81%) were satisfied with their health status. Respondents did not experience changes in sleep quality and length during the COVID-19 pandemic. A large proportion of respondents (83%) did not follow a special diet, while they were willing to use supplementation (58.5%). Respondents stated that the pandemic did not affect their physical activity outside of training. The athletes evaluated negatively the changes in training and competition conditions caused by the pandemic (p < 0.0001).

Conclusions: The study showed that the COVID-19 pandemic did not have a major impact on the health, sleep and physical activity of swimmers in Poland in 2020, while it had a negative impact in terms of training conditions and sport competition.