The NFHS released their participation survey results, indicating that High School Swimming and Diving is continuing to grow. Since the 2007-08 season, high school swimming and diving participation has increased by nearly 18%. Boys swimming and diving has seen the biggest increase in participants, growing 23.66 percent since the 2007-08 season. That increase can almost single-handedly be traced back to Michael Phelps.
There are nearly 30,000 more girls participating in high school swimming and diving then boys. What we have noticed recently, however, is that boys swimming and diving is growing very quickly. On the chart below, I highlighted the Olympic Years in blue writing. The 2008 Olympics took place right before the start of the 2008-09 season. That year, Michael Phelps and his teammates inspired the world and gained celebrity status within the United States. His quest to win 8 Gold Medals shined the national media’s spotlight on the sport of swimming. Between the 2007-08 season and the 2008-09 season, boys swimming increased by 16.34%, gaining more than 18,000 participants. Girls swimming also benefitted from the Olympics as well, increasing 7.46 percent with almost 11,000 new participants.
Although the increase in participation following the London 2012 Olympics was not as big as the increase after Beijing, there was an increase in participation during the 2012-2013 season as well. What we can conclude from this data is that participation in swimming and diving will continue to grow with increased media attention. There were over 300,000 participants competing in high school swimming and diving in 2013-14, which is nearly 50,000 more participants that there were at the end of the 2007-08 season. Since the 2008 Olympics, swimmers have become national celebrities and heroes. Names like Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Missy Franklin, and Natalie Coughlin have become household names, all of which have helped shed a (mostly) positive light on the sport.
Michael Phelps’ contributions to the sport are far more than his World records and Olympic Medals. He has inspired a generation and continues to promote and grow the sport of swimming. Although he is not the only contributing factor to the growth of the sport over the last decade, he has played a very large role.
| NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey Results | ||||||
| Boys | % Change | Girls | % Change | Combined | % Change | |
| 2007-08 | 111,896 | N/A | 147,197 | N/A | 259,093 | N/A |
| 2008-09 | 130,182 | 16.34% | 158,178 | 7.46% | 289,060 | 11.57% |
| 2009-10 | 131,376 | 0.92% | 158,419 | 0.15% | 289,795 | 0.25% |
| 2010-11 | 133,900 | 1.92% | 160,881 | 1.55% | 294,781 | 1.72% |
| 2011-12 | 133,823 | -0.06% | 160,456 | -0.26% | 294,279 | -0.17% |
| 2012-13 | 138,177 | 3.25% | 163,992 | 2.20% | 302,169 | 2.68% |
| 2013-14 | 138,373 | 0.14% | 165,779 | 1.09% | 304,152 | 0.66% |
**Blue denotes Olympic year
Yes, several options to choose from these days. It used to be primarily football, basketball, wrestling, baseball, tennis, and track and field for the guys now you have soccer, cross country, lacrosse, swimming, water polo, golf, etc that are showing up in more schools.
California in some counties have more swimmers than track and field a long time ago. We had girls swimming but not track and field. Water Polo teams were big in the 1970’s. They had the girls later on the 1990’s.
“I wouldn’t doubt that there is some population increase related factors, but the big test will be the next decade. Population rate increases in the US dropped off in the later part of last decade, and the current decade has proven to be one the slowest rates ever in the USA. Like many other western populations, we will be older as a whole then ever with declining birthrate”.
This is true. California even more so than Texas since it is more expensive and birthrates have fallen faster.LA area in the 1970’s had about 32 percent of the population which were kids now about 23 percent. Also, demographic changes in the big population states like Ca, Tx, Fl, NY. What is… Read more »
Considering that overall most sports, especially the traditionally big american sports, are on the decline participation wise. This is something we should all be excited about. Phelps and the other big names have done a great deal for the sport.
Article about decline in US sports: http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303519404579350892629229918
If that other link doesn’t work: http://files.leagueathletics.com/Images/Club/16696/Youth%20Participation%20Weakens%20in%20Basketball%20%20Football%20%20Baseball%20%20Soccer%20-%20WSJ.pdf
Yes, several options to choose from these days. It used to be primarily football, basketball, wrestling, baseball, tennis, and track and field for the guys now you have soccer, cross country, lacrosse, swimming, water polo, golf, etc that are showing up in more schools.
I think one possible reason for a decline in some organized sports — and something I think swimming needs to be careful about — is that the sports are getting increasingly serious at a younger age. From what I’ve seen, in baseball or soccer, if you don’t make a travel team by about age 11, you’re often considered to have no “future” in the sport. Kids get individualized lessons for pitching or goalkeeping at the age of seven. If your family can’t pay, or has other priorities, it’s hard to keep up developmentally, or at least that’s the perception, and I think that may be part of the reason for the decline in numbers.
When you have data indicating increased participation that tells me 3 things:
1. More young people are swimming, which corresponds to improved health and potentially decreased costs to the federal government resulting from a healthy population. This is a potential bargaining chip with the government for funding.
2. More popularity for our sport, which could mean increased viewers for televisec/streaming video of swimming competitions. This is a potential bargaining chip with networks/websites.
3. More dollars in our sport in terms of purchasing swimming related products. This is a potential bargaining chip with manufacturers.
All of the above is great, and indicative of potentially increased power/influence for the sport of swimming in the US; however, fans on this… Read more »
I wouldn’t doubt that there is some population increase related factors, but the big test will be the next decade. Population rate increases in the US dropped off in the later part of last decade, and the current decade has proven to be one the slowest rates ever in the USA. Like many other western populations, we will be older as a whole then ever with declining birthrate.
What I think could be interesting is if football and some other sports see a decrease in popularity due to injury and lifetime cognitive impairs being studied more.
Any idea about how the growth might compare to the growth in the overall population of high school student’s?