Exploring the Conceptualization and Persistence of Disordered Eating in Retired Swimmers

Disordered eating is a psychological ailment that befalls many athletes and can persist into re-tirement. Links have been established between disordered eating and societal and sport-specific pressures; however, little research has focused on the perspective of retired athletes in a time-based sport. The purpose of the current research was to explore the conceptualization of disor-dered eating in relation to swimming participation, how retirement affects eating patterns, and ways to mitigate disordered eating. Following IPA methodological guidelines, a homogeneous sample of retired swimmers (N = 6) were chosen for semi-structured, participant-driven inter-views determined by scores on a disordered eating questionnaire. Three superordinate themes were revealed: (1) Pressures Unique to Swimming, (2) Transition to Eating Pattern Awareness, and (3) Maintaining Ideal Eating Patterns in Retirement. The results revealed a combination of novel findings and expansion of previous data on disordered eating. Suggestions for applications of current findings and for future research are also discussed.