Table 2. Participation rate distributions within constituent years among masters swimmers across historical periods for the separate genders and age periods. Categoryr Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Total χ² p Gender Males 877 723 590 550 480 3220 154.00 < .0001 Males 1972 22 51 22 22 21 138 24.83 < .0001 Males 1982 106 80 54 58 41 339 38.54 < .0001 Males 1992 176 139 114 93 82 604 47.21 < .0001 Males 2002 141 98 78 77 83 477 30.20 < .0001 Males 2012 192 171 184 161 139 847 10.16 < .05 Males 2016 240 184 138 139 114 815 61.18 < .0001 Females 508 420 406 356 322 2012 49.93 < .0001 Females 1972 11 6 8 9 8 42 1.57 - Females 1982 45 26 29 45 34 179 8.79 - Females 1992 100 57 57 59 47 320 26.69 < .0001 Females 2002 93 92 67 55 54 361 20.48 < .001 Females 2012 127 120 125 94 92 558 10.58 - Females 2016 132 119 120 94 87 552 13.13 < .05 Age Younger Adults 574 545 479 457 406 2461 37.23 < .0001 Younger 1972 19 41 23 22 18 123 14.36 < .01 Younger 1982 84 61 43 54 40 282 21.94 < .001 Younger 1992 151 102 87 86 72 498 37.68 < .0001 Younger 2002 104 107 76 76 73 436 12.92 < .05 Younger 2012 98 128 153 127 113 619 13.43 < .01 Younger 2016 118 106 97 92 90 503 5.28 - Middle Adults 620 485 420 374 328 2227 115.80 < .0001 Middle 1972 14 16 7 9 11 57 4.67 - Middle 1982 58 34 36 40 30 198 12.00 < .05 Middle 1992 81 70 65 56 43 315 13.11 < .05 Middle 2002 102 69 47 49 52 319 33.34 < .0001 Middle 2012 167 131 132 101 98 629 25.05 < .0001 Middle 2016 198 165 133 119 94 709 46.39 < .0001 Older Adults 191 113 97 75 68 544 89.35 < .0001 Older 1972 - - - - - - - - Older 1982 9 11 4 9 5 38 4.63 - Older 1992 44 24 19 10 14 111 31.75 < .0001 Older 2002 28 14 22 7 12 83 16.82 < .01 Older 2012 54 32 24 27 20 157 22.78 < .001 Older 2016 56 32 28 22 17 155 29.42 < .0001 χ² = Chi square; p = p-value; NS = Non-significant; Younger Adults = 35-49yrs, Middle Adults = 50-64yrs, Older Adults = 65yrs and above.