Differentiated assessment of female fire rescue athlete predisposition to successful performance at competitive distances

The use of differentiated approach and individualization in the process of athlete preparation is an important trend in the improvement of fire-and-rescue sport (FRS) training. Nowadays, the results achieved in applied disciplines are so high that it is not always possible to exceed or even to equal them. This especially concerns such completely different RFS disciplines as 100-meter obstacle course and climbing on an assault ladder. The goal of this study was to determine female athlete predisposition to successful performance at one of the abovementioned competitive RFS distances and to classify them according to their preferred specialization. The competitive activities of 36 female fire rescue athletes aged 19 to 20 years, who have Master of Sports qualification in «100-meter obstacle course» and «climbing on an assault ladder» disciplines have been analyzed by using electronic timing and high speed video recording. The methods of descriptive statistics, correlation, factor and cluster analyses have been used for processing of the data obtained. It has been established that the overcoming results of individual segments of the obstacle course and the overall competitive result in this discipline have no statistically significant linear relationship with individual indicators and the overall result of climbing on an assault ladder. Thus, it can be claimed that the overcoming of the obstacle course and climbing on an assault ladder are separate sport disciplines, the results of which depend on the manifestation of various physical qualities and psychomotor abilities. Due to this, the problem of differentiated training of fire rescue athletes is very relevant. The separation of athletes into typological groups by taking into account identifed strengths and weaknesses when participating in competitions will allow to implement the differentiated approach to motor activity management of fire rescue athletes and to develop methodology for the formation of rational time and pace structure of running in competitive RFS disciplines. This gives an opportunity to determine priorities in sport specialization and individual characteristics of the preparation process for female fire rescue athletes.