Adversarial Growth in Olympic Swimmers: Constructive Reality or Illusory Self-Deception?

Abstract

Previous research suggests that adversarial growth is a real and constructive phenomenon that occurs in athletes who compete at the highest level of sport. In this study, however, we adopt a critical stance on the veridicality of growth by exploring Olympic swimmers’ experience of constructive and illusory growth. Semistructured interviews, complemented by timelining, were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Despite the inherently negative aspects of adversity, it was evident from the swimmers’ interpretations that they also perceived positive consequences of their experiences. Analysis revealed that some of these positive outcomes were indicative of illusory aspects of growth, and other positive outcomes were more indicative of constructive aspects of growth. It appears that earlier phases of the growth process were characterized by more illusory aspects of growth, whereas when the temporal proximity from the adversity increased, more constructive aspects of growth were apparent.

An interpretative phenomenological analysis of 2013 Boston Marathoners’ experience of running a subsequent Boston Marathon

“…Freh, Dallos, & Chung, 2012;McCormack & McKellar, 2015), and trauma experiences in sport (e.g. Caron, Bloom, Johnston, & Sabiston, 2013;Cotterill & Cheetham, 2017;Howells & Fletcher, 2016;Lavallee & Robinson, 2007;Levy, Polman, Nicholls, & Merchant, 2009;Warner & Dixon, 2015;Warriner & Lavallee, 2008).…”

“…Similarly, McCormack and McKellar (2015) conducted a longitudinal study that employed interpretative phenomenological analysis with survivors of the 2002 Bali bombings to assess the bombings' impact on survivors' psychological well-being in the years following the attack. Sport psychology researchers utilizing interpretative phenomenological analysis have conducted research on, rugby players' experiences of captaincy (Cotterill & Cheetham, 2017), Olympic swimmers' experiences following adversity (Howells & Fletcher, 2016), competition's meaning and its impact on collegiate sport experiences of male and female athletes (Warner & Dixon, 2015), exploring the lived experiences of former National Hockey League athletes with symptoms of multiple concussions (Caron, Bloom, Johnston, & Sabison, 2013), recreational athletes' rehabilitation adherence experiences (Levy, Polman, Nicholls, & Merchant, 2009), and the experiences and meanings elite female gymnasts' retirement had on their identity at the conclusion of their careers (Lavallee & Robinson, 2007;Warriner & Lavallee, 2008). While these studies employed interpretative phenomenological analysis to understand how athletes made sense of a specific athletic experience, few sport psychology scholars have studied athletes' experiences of a terrorist attack during a competition, and the experience of returning to the same site to compete In summary, because terror attacks are known trauma sources (Bobo et al, 2006;Galea, Ahern, Resnick, Kilpatrick, Bucuvalas, Gold, & Vlahov, 2002;Grunfeld, 2006;Silver, Holman, McIntosh, Poulin, & Gil-Rivas, 2002;Tomb, 1994;Trappler, 2007), major sporting events have been prior targets of successful terror attacks (Bliss, 2011;Galily et al, 2016;Toohey et al, 2003;Spaaij & Hamm, 2015), and past research in sport "has not involved the experience of stress or adversity from outside the rules or expectations of sport" (Timm et al, 2017, p. 43), 2013 Boston Marathoners provided an ideal population to qualitatively study the experience of an in vivo return to the trauma site in sport.…”

Making Champs and Super-Champs—Current Views, Contradictions, and Future Directions

“…The first, experiential emphasis includes the recent UK Sport sponsored Great British Medallists study (Hardy et al, 2013) together with publications that arose from this report (e.g., Rees et al, 2013, 2016) and the resilience focused work of Sarkar et al (e.g., Fletcher and Sarkar, 2012; Sarkar and Fletcher, 2014; Howells and Fletcher, 2015, 2016). The second covers ideas such as the Growth Mindset (Dweck, 2006) and the grit approach of Duckworth et al (e.g., Duckworth et al, 2007, 2010; Eskreis-Winkler et al, 2014).…”

“…Even more recent work, suggesting that the post traumatic positive effects grow with time is once again based on a single measure; in this case, retrospective interview (Howells and Fletcher, 2016). So, given these issues, what characteristics should we look for in evaluating current, or designing future studies?…”

Adversity-related experiences are essential for Olympic success: Additional evidence and considerations

“…Another related worthwhile area of research is the extent to which Olympic champions deceive themselves in terms of their perceptions of adversity-related experiences and the role they play in their development and performance (cf. Howells & Fletcher, 2016).…”