Swimming is one sport where embodied experiences have been shown to be core elements of recreational participation, where experiences in relation to the temperature or touch of the water have come to the fore. However, the embodied experiences of competitive swimmers remain relatively under-researched.

This study therefore develops a richer and deeper understanding of these experiences and how they contribute fundamentally to the construction of the competitive swimming lifeworld. This is achieved by highlighting: the swimmers motivations for entering and remaining in the sport; the different ways the swimming body is central to the ‘doing’ of swimming; the variety of sensory experiences that swimmers have as part of this ‘doing’ and; how these experiences are shared emphasising the social nature of competitive swimming.