Motherhood and swimming with pre-school children

What is it about?

In this chapter, we investigate the role of the senses, intercorporeality and intersubjectivity in leisure swimming, as experienced by mothers with their pre-school-aged children. Findings from two research studies highlighted elements of such experiences, including a shift in women's intentionality from the self to their children, and increased focus upon their children's subtle bodily cues. The ability to “read” such cues was assumed by participants to reside in an innate maternal “instinct,” related to the management of perceived risks in the pool and changing-room spaces, including problematic traces of the passage of other bodies. Moreover, the maternal experience was replete with emotion work and the management of young children's embodied behavior. Mothers were cognizant of the tacit etiquette of the pool, including respect for the integrity of the auditory and somatic space of others. Our insights offer an example of the value of a sociological and feminist phenomenological theoretical framework in understanding mothers’ embodied experiences of leisure-swimming.

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Photo by Derek Thomson on Unsplash

Photo by Derek Thomson on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This chapter addresses the under-researched topic of intercorporeality and women's swimming with their young children. It features in the first book to offer an in-depth examination of the nexus of women, sport and culture within the context of motherhood, uncovering new narratives that raise the profile of non-conformist performances.