The somatotype of Puerto Rican male athletes at the X Pan American Games: a brief descriptive report.

The purpose of this study was to determine and describe the Health-Carter anthropometric somatotype and other selected anthropometric characteristics of top class Puerto Rican athletes. One hundred and forty seven (147) male athletes, members of the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee delegation to the X Pan American Games were evaluated. The sample represented 84% of the total number of male athletes. Nineteen different sports were represented. The results indicated that gymnasts (18.3 +/- 4.0 years), swimmers (18.5 +/- 2.9 years) and table tennists (19.3 +/- 3.5 years) were the group with the minimum age. The maximal age was demonstrated by shooters (40.2 +/- 7.8 years). The height range was 158.1 +/- 6.3 cm (judoists) to 193.8 +/- 15.2 cm (basketball players). The minimum weight was demonstrated by the group of gymnasts (57.8 +/- 10.3 kg) and the maximal by basketball players (94.2 +/- 18.6 kg). The endomorphy ratings for track and field-jumpers [TF JUMPS] (1.8 +/- 0.6), gymnasts (1.8 +/- 0.4) and rowers (1.9 +/- 0.5) were low. The group with the maximal endomorphy rating was the shooters (5.4 +/- 1.6). The minimum and maximal ratings for mesomorphy was 3.8 +/- 0.8 (TF JUMPS) and 8.9 +/- 1.9 (weight lifters), respectively. The range of the ectomorphy rating was 0.4 +/- 0.6 (weight lifters) to 3.8 +/- 0.9 (TF JUMPS). In conclusion, the results seem to indicate that the somatotypes of the Puerto Rican top class athletes are within the range demonstrated by international top class athletes.