Olympic Swimming and Individualism: Can Culture Influence Performance in the Olympic Arena?

Individual and relay scores in two Olympic swimming events (100- and 200-meter freestyle) were compared across 15 nations, 86 athletes and four summer Olympics (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008) to determine if level of individualism of the home country affects race times. Except in very specific and apparently random circumstances, differences between mean solo race times and mean relay race times were not related to level of individualism, regardless of gender, event or year of Olympics. Explanations for these surprising results center around the high identifiability, drive arousal and performance expectations of the athletes.