Abstract:
The purpose of the study was to examine coaching leadership styles and motivational methods to see what the swimmers at the Division I level prefer. Participants (N=87) for his study were chosen from three different Midwestern Universities Division I swimming teams. The athletes in the study were selected to take the survey using purposive sampling technique.Research findings revealed that both male and female swimmers preferred a coach that had a rewarding or training and instruction leadership style. The researcher wanted to determine whether or not Division I swimmers were more task oriented or ego oriented. All of the athletes but one were task oriented. This helped to answer the question that was posed by the researcher as to goal orientation as it pertained to gender. With all but one of the athletes being task oriented there was no difference between males and females. The researcher also wanted to determine what leadership style that task oriented swimmers preferred. This question was answered by all of the swimmers as a rewarding or training leadership style in which they preferred. As far as a preference in leadership styles for ego oriented swimmers, no answer could be derived because only one swimmer was ego oriented. This researcher concludes that the information presented about how Division I college swim coaches can be more effective should help the coaches in adjusting their coaching style to better meet the needs of their swimmers.