Construct of 50-Meter Crawl Style Swimming Performance and The Determinant Physical Factors

Abstract

This study aimed to achieve the following objectives, namely (1) develop a measurement construct model to evaluate performance of the 50-meter crawl style swimming, (2) establish a structural equation model to examine the relationship between physical factors and swimming technique performance, and (3) identify the determinant physical factors of performance. A total of 150 subjects were selected using the purposive random sampling technique, and the data were analyzed using SPSS 10.0 program and LISREL 8.71 for Windows. Analysis 1: The fit of the indicators used in explaining the latent variables in the study models was tested: (1) body proportion latent variable assessed through the manifests of the hip width, thigh rim, upper arm rim, forearm rim, shoulder width, elbow width, and arm length showed favorable results, with λ t_count > t_table of 1.979 (df =129.5), and construct reliability of 0.877 > 0.7, which indicated unidimensionality, (2) biomotor latent variable, represented by the manifests of strength, explosive capacity, speed, flexibility, dexterity, reaction time, balance, and coordination, also yielded positive outcomes with λ t_count > t_table of 1.979 (df =129.5), and construct reliability of 0.987 > 0.7, which indicated unidimensionality, (3) the latent variable nutrition status, assessed through the manifests of body height and weight showed satisfactory results with λ t_count > t_table of 1.979 (df =129.5), and construct reliability of 0.797 > 0.7, which demonstrated unidimensionality. Analysis 2: the testing of the model: χ² = 201.89 at df = 176, p = 0.08810 (criterion > 0.005), RMSEA = 0.078 (criterion > 0.005), and GFI = 0.9174. These results confirmed the model fits the data. Analysis 3: The effects of the determinant physical factors on the 50-meter crawl style swimming performance were examined based on the obtained model: (1) biomotor was significantly influenced by body proportion (γ =0.2727, t_count = 3.876, t_{table (df=129, α=0.05)} =1.979), (2) swimming technique was affected by body proportion (t_count = 5.1830, t_{table (df=129, α=0.05)} =1.979, γ = 0.1262), biomotor (γ = 0.0426, t_count = 2.4403, t_{table (df=129, α=0.05)} =1.979), nutrition status (γ = 0.1449, t_count = 4.3174, t_{table (df=129, α=0.05)} =1.979), and VO₂Max (γ = 0.7715, t_count = 13.1600, t_{table (df=129, α=0.05)} =1.979). Meanwhile, the contribution of lung volume was not significant (γ = -0.0219, t_count = 5.1830, t_{table (df=129, α=0.05)} =1.979), (3) performance was significantly influenced by body proportion (γ = 0.3153, t_count = 3.0275, t_{table (df=129, α=0.05)} =1.979) and swimming technique (γ = -0.7075, t_count = 2.0577, t_{table (df=129, α=0.05)} =1.979), while the contribution of endurance was insignificant (γ = 0.2474, t_count = 0.7548, t_{table (df=129, α=0.05)} =1.979).