Impact of competitive anxiety on heart rate variability and performance in young swimmers

Abstract

Objective: To assess the impact of competitive anxiety on performance and heart rate variability (HRV) after competition in young swimmers.

Methodology: Ten young swimming athletes participated in the research, 6 men and 4 women (14.50 ± 1.54 years). One hour before the competition, competitive anxiety and HRV were measured, 30 minutes and 48 hours after the HRV race was measured again. Performance was obtained using the International Point Score (IPS).

Results: It was demonstrated that the LF / HF ratio of the HRV frequency domain showed a significant change both in 30 minutes (F (1, 9) = 5.79, p = 0.04, R² = 0.42) and 48 hours (F (1, 9) = 10.46, p = 0.01, R² = 0.56) after the competition and was influenced by competitive anxiety in the analyzed times. However, it did not influence sports performance (p = 0.61).