Barriers to Winning Medals at International Swimming Events: an Understanding of the Iranian Expert's Heuristic Patterns

The purpose of this study was to investigate barriers to winning medals at international swimming events: an understanding of the Iranian expert's heuristic patterns. In this study, Q methodology was used as one of the mixed methods. The target population of the study was ۲۰ people who consisted of national team swimmers, elderly swimmers, swimming coaches, the swimming federation board, and active provincial swimming officials. By creating a space of discourse, ۵۰ short phrases were chosen as the Q phrase. After evaluating and summarizing the discourse space, using the experts’ opinions, ۳۷ phrases were selected as the final Q phrase. These expressions were provided to the research experts in the form of the "Q Ranking Questionnaire." Data were analyzed using Q factor analysis. Inadequate funding in swimming, Lack of proper planning for talent identification and Weakness in attracting sponsors was examples of Q expressions. Results of the Q factor analysis showed six heuristic patterns about the barriers to winning medals at international swimming events: attitude-oriented; infrastructure; financial; technical and executive; managerial; and, education and scientific-based. Close attention is suggested to the factors identified as barriers to the success of swimmers in international competitions.