To Swim or not to Swim - Women and Swimming

In autumn 2005 WSF (Now WSFF) and the Amateur Swimming Association commissioned HNI International to carry out a six month research project into women aged 25-34 and their views on swimming. 

A mixture of survey data and focus group work methods were used in the analysis. Nine focus groups were held in total across the country and different groups of women. The opinions expressed in focus groups around the country were comprised of a mix of women who both do and do not swim. 

Below is a summary of the key findings, however, the full report of the research is also available to download.

For leisure.

An enjoyable swimming occasion for young women consists of a swim with the following mix- a reasonable amount of personal space, a pool which is not too noisy, has plenty of ambient light, is non-rectangular and is visually attractive.

Many young women liked the notion of swimming outdoors. They were attracted to the feeling of freedom and being close to nature. This was considered to be ‘how swimming should be’- almost, swimming without boundaries.

Swimming was seen as a health solution during pregnancy but not outside.  However there was low engagement between women and swimming as a health solution.

Swimming is good non-weight bearing exercise.

For the psychological benefits. Swimming creates a positive frame of mind.

The main overarching issues are associated with convenience, cleanliness, body image and lack of confidence.

Many women who do not swim regularly see swimming as an activity associated with holidays. At that time, they will devote considerable time to preparing for the occasion. This includes shaving and waxing the body and purchasing suitable attire.

For many women, it was important to be anonymous at a swimming pool. This was closely associated with body issues. For some, it was better to swim at a pool not too close to home in case you were recognised.  There were no such concerns over swimming when on holiday where you were extremely unlikely to meet anyone you knew.

A further problem for swimming was to make the activity salient to the lives of as many young women as possible.  Many women did not find it relevant and did not see swimming as a way to improve health as being an attraction to take part.

The more athletic women had fewer concerns over body exposure, particularly those who swam regularly. Other young women were concerned not just about being exposed in front of men but also other women, where ‘looking good’ to women of similar type who were using the same pool, was thought to be important.

‘Chlorine’ was a much used word. It was associated as much with a ‘lack of cleanliness’ as ‘cleanliness’. Chlorine was considered to be unpleasant and to have a lasting effect on the body such as spoiling the hair and skin. Chlorine was a major barrier to swimming and discouraged some women from visiting the pool. Chlorine was also associated with the smell of a pool which was also thought to be unpleasant.

When it came to going for a swim, there was a hierarchy of decision making factors common to all young women. These were in the following order:

Cultural, such as non-swimming families, body exposure with some cultural groups.

Internal, such as self consciousness, low self-esteem, inertia, poor past experiences.

Logistical, for example, transport difficulties, time of sessions.

External, for example fear of water, size and noise in pool, convenience, carrying wet equipment, shaving body hair. 

...and finally

Social, for example, if one’s friends did not swim or other better past-time choices and options.

Swimming was also generally considered to be a time consuming activity and this was due to the high ‘hassle’ factor involved. Preparing the body ready to attend a swimming pool, changing, drying the body and hair were just a few of these ‘hassle’ factors.

Whereas married women with children were comfortable with young people using the pool at the same time, single young women preferred to swim at times when children were not in attendance.

Women with children considered it important that their children learnt to swim in order to be safe but were not particularly concerned to take part themselves.

Interventions and future policies

Interventionist approaches need to be sought to engage non-pool users. When women stop swimming, it is hard to re-engage them. These approaches therefore need to both breakdown the barriers identified above and be linked to other incentives that either already or are likely to engage young women.

There should be a mix of bathing provision in all pools. Many women are happy to take part in mixed bathing sessions; others prefer to have single sex sessions.  Women only sessions should therefore be sensitively constructed with female lifeguards (and swimming teachers where needed) as well as being sited in areas where there are no immediate viewing areas.

Membership of some cultural groups means that young women find it difficult to take part in swimming. Body exposure can become an issue from quite an early age. Pool programming needs to account for as many of these groups as possible and communicating both the positive aspects of swimming and the ease with which it is possible to take part are becoming increasingly important. Often the women in those groups are simply not aware that there are both people from the same cultural group who do swim regularly and  opportunities for them to take part.

Care and thought should be given to the wearing of lightweight tops such as t-shirts. These can lead to safety concerns as the swimmer can be dragged down by cumbersome materials and are of concern to some pool operators. This situation could be avoided by offering session times when it is possible to wear these garments. Clearly these need to be low usage times; restricted to safe parts of the pool but this type of flexibility will encourage some larger women to take part.

Personalisation of swimming is key to future success.  This refers to personal swimming programmes, teachers on hand to assist and offer tips, plenty of personal space and a well thought through and appropriate timetable.