Boys and girls between the ages of 8-14 swimmers anthropometric and somatotype analysis of structures

The aim of this study is to determine the somatotype functions of girls and boys swimmers of 8-14 age group by anthropometric measurements; enable determining basic structural factors of young swimmers, and thanks to such factors to determine the physical characteristics of young children at the age of 8-14 who are interested in swimming and see whether there is a significant difference between the anthropometric and somatotype structures of male and females swimmer. This research is carried out in accordance with survey method which is deemed in the scope of descriptive research method. 51 female, 85 male, a total of 136 performance swimmers age mean of whom is 11±1 years voluntarily participated in this research from Trabzon. The mean height of young swimmers is 140.43±11.78 cm and their weight mean is 38,45±11,66 kg. The skinfold thickness measures of young swimmers showed that female swimmers (n= 51) have 14,36±5,17 mm triceps skinfold thickness while male swimmers have (n=85), 13,14±5,57 mm. Subscapular skinfold thickness for female swimmers (n=51) is 9,83±5,62 mm and 8,33±4,40 mm for male swimmers (n=85). Supraspinal skinfold thickness for female swimmers (n=51) is 8,29±5,63 mm and 6,87±4,58 mm for male swimmers (n=85). Calf skinfold thickness is 17,94±6,53 mm for female swimmers (n=51) and 17,13±6,22 mm for male swimmers (n=85). As for girths calf measure values is 29,89±3,43 cm for female swimmers (n=51) and 29,55±3,82 cm for male swimmers (n=85); fbiceps is 23,11±3,13 cm for female swimmers (n=51) and 22,73±3,57 cm for male swimmers (n= 85). As for width measures, the elbow width for female swimmers (n=51) is 5,38±,56 cm while it is 5,50±,59 for male swimmers (n=85); knee width is 8,36±,71 cm for female swimmers (n=51) and 8,58±,75 cm for male swimmers (n=85). İn order to determine the somatotypes of swimmers participating in the research, 11 anthropometric measures of swimmers are considered including, height, weight, skinfold thickness, girth and width. Health-Carter method is used for determining the somatotype characteristics. Statistical analyses of measures are made in SPSS 17.0 program. Independent-Samples t-test is applied in order to make comparison between genders. Upon the analyses no significant difference is observed between sexes. (p> 0,05). Somatotype values of female swimmers are found to be 3,78?4,39?2,27 while somatotype values of male swimmers are 3,32?4,30?2,71. The observation of somatotypes of on somatocart proved that young swimmers in this age range somatotype structures are intensified in endomorphic mesomorph field. Key Words: Anthropometry, Somatotype, Swimming, Girls, Boys