the primary purpose of this study was to examine how young swimmers cope with the stress of sport during competition. specifically, this study will examine if swimmers use a consistent coping style over three different swim meets. the relationships between cognitive appraisal of task importance and goal frustration and coping will also be explored. last, appraisal, coping self-reported mood will be examined. subjects will be young swimmers 10 - 16 years of age who were currently training and competing in thunder bay ontario, on the thunderbolt swim club.