Women in sports: the Naval Academy experience

Women were first admitted to the United States Naval Academy with the Class of 1980. The physical performance of 63 women in that class along with 69 in the Class of 1981 and 78 in the Class of 1982 is compared to the performance of a random sample of male midshipmen in the same Classes. The Department of Physical Education made some adjustments in the fitness program for women but did not change the objectives. The number of hours of physical education was the same for the men and women. Performance tests show that the women have scored better than had been anticipated and that the scores have improved with each Class. The women have averaged three times as many visits to the orthopaedic clinic for stress-related injuries than the men, but as the women have become acclimated to a more active life, they have sought medical attention for these problems less often. The women in these three Classes have had no trauma-related orthopaedic surgery. It is anticipated that when women midshipmen begin to participate in the same vigorous sports as men, e.g., soccer, lacrosse, and others, that injuries will increase. We conclude that physical fitness requirements for women will become increasingly similar to the men's requirements. At this time, the performance of women is often a result of society's conditioning rather than apparent physiologic differences between the sexes.