Pain catastrophizing, an exaggerated tendency to anticipate and amplify painful sensations, is a critical factor in the evaluation and treatment of athletes. The Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) is a self-assessment questionnaire, consisting of 13 statements that assess thoughts and feelings related to pain. In the context of swimming, a high-performance sport, understanding the differences in pain catastrophizing between age and sex categories can provide information about each individual's perception of pain. This study aims to explore how these factors influence the level of sleep catastrophizing in athletes.

To characterize the level of catastrophizing in swimming athletes and analyze the association of category and sex with the level of pain catastrophizing in swimming athletes.

This is an observational cross-sectional study. Forty-four swimmers of both sexes classified in the children's, youth and junior categories participated in the study. The athletes responded to the Pain Catastrophizing Scale, which ranges from 0 to 52 points, with values ??above 30 points representing a significant level of pain catastrophizing. The Total Pain Catastrophizing score was calculated. Analysis of Variance and independent t-test were used for analysis.

Of the 44 athletes evaluated, 33 completed the Pain Catastrophizing Scale, 13 of whom were in the Children's category, 10 in the Youth category and 10 in the Junior category. Of these, 21 were men and 12 were women. Only 6 athletes had a score higher than the cutoff point. There was no significant difference between the categories (p = 0.946) and, when comparing genders, there was no significant difference in pain catastrophizing (p = 0.145).

The study revealed that most of the athletes evaluated presented low levels of pain catastrophizing, with only 6 athletes demonstrating scores above 30 points, indicating a significant level of catastrophizing. Furthermore, there was no significant difference between categories and genders. Future studies with larger sample sizes and with athletes at different levels of competition need to be carried out to better investigate the factors that influence catastrophizing.

Pain catastrophizing is an exaggerated negative orientation towards harmful stimuli and should be considered important for the performance and well-being of athletes, especially those with a history of previous injuries. The presence of catastrophic thoughts can impair adaptation to physical discomfort and negatively influence sports performance. Therefore, it is essential that sports training and rehabilitation programs include psychological approaches that help to reduce pain catastrophizing, covering different factors that may be associated with the amplification of pain sensation. Continued studies on the impact of pain catastrophizing may contribute to the development of more specific and effective interventions for different age groups and sports modalities.