Swimming in the Deep End:Embodied Practices, Injury and Sociability amongst Youth Swimmers in the UK

How does the practice of swimming come to affect the complex production and expression of embodiment and the construction of identities of youth competitive swimmers in and out of the water? How does injury and pain, in relation to immersion in and sense of “feel for the water,” which swimmers are continuously developing, affect their sense of self and knowledge of their bodies.Through a phenomenological anthropology framework my aim is to come to a deeper understanding of the embodied experiences of youth swimmers and how they come to know and use their bodies through the sport of swimming. By exploring and expanding on the kinetic swimming concept of “feel for the water,” my research introduces embodied and sensuous experiences of feeling the water and how those inform the experience of being a youth swimmer.This presentation will outline some of the preliminary ethnographic research I am conducting amongst youth enrolled in a competitive swimming club in the South East of the UK, as well as highlighting emerging themes from the study.