TABLE 2.

Search strategy adopted in the present scoping review.

Search strategy component	Related item(s)
Searched databases	PubMed/MEDLINE, Google scholar
Search string used	(microbiome OR microbiota OR “bacterial community” OR “bacterial communities” OR “bacterial flora”) AND (swimming OR swimmer)
Inclusion criteria	PCC
	Population/participants: athletes of any competitive level, national or international, short- or long-distance
	Concept: the potential applications of microbiomics within the sports discipline of swimming
	Context: worldwide
	PICOS
	Population/participants: swimmers, of any competitive level
	Intervention: any training protocol
	Comparator/comparison: swimmers against the general population; gender- and age-specific comparisons or comparison related to a particular swimming style
	Outcome(s): quantification of the changes in the microbiome, in terms of architecture/composition, richness, or diversity
	Study design: any study design (retrospective, prospective, quantitative, observational, interventional, randomized, or non-randomized)
Time restriction	None applied
Language filter	None applied