The prediction of swimming performance from behavioral information: a further note

A recommendation has been made that performance predictions may have to be restricted to matched groups of athletes competing in similar competitive environments. This study assessed that statement for the sport of swimming. A 13 item discriminant function derived from the 1976 Canadian Team was applied to the 1978 Canadian Teams to predict those who would and would not improve over their entry times in the Commonwealth Games competitions. The predictions were no better than chance. The possibility of predicitng swimming performances from data obtained on a similar team does not appear to be feasible.