The effect of swimming athletes' commitment levels to sports on socialization processes

The aim of the study is to determine the effect of the level of commitment of swimming athletes to sports on socialization processes, gender, age, education, mother and father occupation, monthly income level of the family, time and day variables of weekly training practices and the effect of swimming athletes' commitment levels to sports on socialization processes. This research, which was carried out in line with the investigation of the demographic characteristics of swimming athletes, their level of commitment to sports, and the effect of their socialization processes on their socialization processes, was designed in accordance with the descriptive relational survey model. The universe of the research; In 2024-2025, swimming athletes (n=660) in the Eastern Anatolia Region constitute the sample group. In the study, "Sports Commitment Scale (SBS)" and "Socialization Scale (SS)" were used as data collection tools. The study data were collected in Google Forms environment and the analysis was carried out with the SPSS 26 program. As a result of the study, we can say that swimming athletes are mostly highly educated, high-income and female. We can say that gender plays a decisive role between commitment to sports and socialization, as men have a higher level of socialization through sports and their commitment to sports. It shows that the levels of commitment to sports differ significantly according to age and this commitment is higher especially in young age groups. In terms of socialization, although it varies according to age, it can be said that sports are a tool that feeds the social aspect of the individual in every age group. It can be said that the level of education is an important variable affecting the motivation to participate in sports and the satisfaction obtained from sports. As the level of education decreases, the place of sports in life practice increases, which increases the level of commitment and internalization of sports. However, at higher levels of education, sports are mostly done for socialization purposes, and the levels of commitment and dedication are relatively reduced. Father's occupation is an important socioeconomic factor that affects the level of commitment to sports and socialization. When the mother's profession is evaluated, the relationship of the children of public servant mothers with sports is stronger in terms of both commitment and socialization. Although family income level appears to have a limited effect on sports commitment, fitness, dedication and socialization, it is noteworthy that it reveals significant differences in individual and emotional components such as internalization. Weekly training frequency stands out as a determining variable in factors such as sports commitment, fitness, dedication and internalization. This result reveals that regular training of athletes positively affects not only their physical but also their psychological and social development. As a result, although it is seen that the socialization tendencies of athletes increase as the level of commitment to sports increases, the limited level of this relationship reveals that the socialization process exhibits a multidimensional structure and cannot be explained only by commitment to sports. It can be said that participation in sports is of great importance not only physically but also socially, by positively affecting the level of commitment of swimming athletes to sports, their social development and socialization processes. These findings highlight the need to strengthen regular training and social support systems to increase athletes' commitment to sports.