Generalisability

When considering the notion of generalisability in ethnographic research and in qualitative research more widely, there is on-going debate regarding the extent to which findings may be applicable to wider contexts. This is very much the case if qualitative research is held to the same judgement criteria of traditional, (post)positivist notions of generalisability, which many qualitative researchers reject as being entirely inappropriate (Richardson, 2000; Sparkes & Smith, 2014). As Smith (2018) notes, however, whilst qualitative research may not satisfy statistical-probabilistic generalisability, it does meet other forms of generalisability such as naturalistic and analytical generalisability, as well as transferability. By providing a detailed account of the participants’ own lived experiences of the competitive swimming lifeworld, I seek to speak to the reader’s experiences of the same, or other similar sporting lifeworlds, thus displaying naturalistic generalisability and transferability (Smith, 2018) to other physical-cultural spheres. For example, when reading about how changes in water temperature can affect training performance, it is hoped readers who have experienced training in hotter or colder than usual temperatures will be able to recognise similar experiences that they have had. In other words, the research bears

121 familial resemblances to the reader’s experiences, settings they move in, events they have witnessed or people they have talked to.

In addition, I address the criterion of analytic generalisability as the results are relatable to current concepts and theories for example, embodiment, techniques of the body, the senses, intercorporeality and the absent body, showing how these concepts and theories that have been used in other research settings are also applicable to investigating the swimming lifeworld. This relates to insights derived from existential phenomenology and sociology as this allied, powerful relationship permits a deep investigation into the structures of sporting and physical activity experiences.

Having now outlined the various methodological choices made within this study, the final section of this chapter, ‘the prep-set’, sets the scene of the space and place of ANP Swimming.

3.12 ‘The Prep-set’ - The Place and Space of ANP Swimming

The swimming pool at ANP Swimming provides the immediate context for swimming practices and experiences as this is where training, coaching, and social interactions between participants occur most often. It is within this space that the various experiences of the practitioners become saturated with contextualised meanings. This space is significant in the development of embodied swimming experiences and knowledge. The pool itself is located on a busy university campus in the English Midlands. Built in the early 2000s, it acts as a training facility not just for the various university aquatic teams (swimming, waterpolo, triathlon, canoe, sub aqua), but also various other national governing body squads, local swimming clubs, university gym members and the public. The pool itself is accessed through an automatic door that opens onto a reception area with a turnstile. On passing through the turnstile, there is access to the changing rooms (although rarely if ever used by the swimmers), administration and coaches’ offices, and the swimming pool itself. There are boards, plaques, and banners hung throughout the building that form reminders of those who have swum or are still swimming in the facility and have achieved success. The doors that provide access to the pool have a message emblazoned

122 across them asking those who enter to follow in the footsteps of those who have come before. Stepping through these doors you are greeted by a bright and clean environment that houses an eight lane 50m pool, that is deck level on the sides and raised at either end, with a movable boom that enables the pool to be split into 2x25m pools. Each end of the pool, as well as the boom, is fitted with FINA approved starting blocks. There is also a set of backstroke starting wedges and each lane rope is an anti-wave racing rope. The air is warm but not stifling, however, on certain days this temperature can be higher or lower, with the swimmers often asking for the windows to be opened or closed. There is also the customary and very familiar hint of chlorine in the air. The water always looks clear and crisp, its temperature a very closely maintained 27 degrees which keeps it inside the FINA rules for a competitive swimming event (temperature must be between 25 and 28°C). Music is normally playing from the poolside public address (PA) system to create an atmosphere (but not often appreciated by the swimmers who would ask for a change of playlist). Combined, these features provide a very accommodating and attractive place to train. Additionally, at one end of the pool is a small, land-conditioning (Land-Con) room, which is equipped with vinyl covered mats, a pull up frame, medicine balls, dumbbells, a versa trainer, a climbing machine and an old multigym machine. The swimmers use this space mainly for pre- and post-pool mobility and stretching sessions, as well as a weekly circuit. Their main strength and conditioning sessions take place in a specialist strength and conditioning facility also located on campus, within five minutes’ walk of the pool (Fieldnotes, October 2017). Having introduced the place and space of the ANP Swimming pool, I now turn to describe the set-up of the swimming programme in more detail, including introducing the coaches who through their level of involvement, experience, and personalities shape, and are shaped by the programme.

At the time of data collection there were three squads within the ANP Swimming programme; two performance squads and one national squad. Each of the performance squads had between 16 and 20 members with a further 20 plus members in the national squad. For the purpose of this study I focused on the two performance squads as they provided the best access to the events, settings, actors and artefacts (Marshall & Rossman, 2015) that directly related to the phenomenon under investigation and satisfied the inclusion criteria as outlined in section 2.6.1. Each of these squads has selection and

123 consideration times that need to be achieved if swimmers wish to be considered for membership. These times become more challenging the longer the swimmers stay in the programme, in a way that ensures that swimmers either continue to improve or they are removed from the programme. This might seem a tough stance to take but with limited numbers in each of the performance squads it allows the coaches the opportunity to assess swimmers’ progress and their continued suitability for the groups. If swimmers meet a selection time they are then further categorised into a bronze, silver, gold, or platinum category. These categories allow them access to differing levels of support services from physiotherapy, massage and sport science support, including nutritional advice. Along with meeting these selection times and being categorised, there is a minimum requirement for attendance per week. This differs depending on which events swimmers compete in but is usually between eight and ten sessions in the pool plus three to five land-based sessions. At the time of investigation of the 16 to 20 swimmers in each performance squad there was a fairly even distribution of men and women. In Nick’s squad there was a total of 18 swimmers, nine men and nine women. In Tony’s group there were 17 swimmers, seven men and ten women. All swimmers were between the ages of 18 and 22 and were predominantly, but not exclusively, white-British, with the exception of one white-Irish male, two women of black-British descent and one woman of white-French descent (Fieldnotes October 2017; February 2018; July 2018).

Due to the nature of the programme being a university programme, all the swimmers, with the exception of one, were registered on full or part-time programmes of study across a range of disciplines from aeronautical engineering to sports science and fine art. These were not recreational swimmers, they were all highly committed competitive athletes, some of whom were funded through British Swimming and UK Sport, but the majority were still what would be deemed amateur, receiving no funding or support other than what they or their parents could provide, or what their level within the performance structure afforded them from the university in terms of scholarship, physiotherapy, massage or sports science support. Additionally, due to the university environment it was very rare for new or different faces to enter the squads during the season, with changes in personnel mainly taking place as a result of people beginning, or graduating from, their periods of study at ANP Swimming, or simply retiring from the sport. Occasionally there may have

124 been what to me was an unfamiliar face ‘drop in’ for a session or two, but often these were ANP Swimming graduates or former members of the team who were now training elsewhere and were therefore known to the coaches. This ‘closed’ context is potentially a very different social environment than that found in more traditional swimming clubs or sports clubs in general where faces could change regularly as people move in or out of the programme throughout a season. This latter would be similar to the context of Wacquant’s (2004) boxing ethnography where the social milieu of the gym was in constant flux due to the comings and goings and comings again of boxers new and old.

These swimmers and the performance squads were overseen by Nick, who was the director of swimming, and Tony, who was the head coach. On first appearance these titles don’t seem to reflect any apparent difference as Nick and Tony worked closely together (alongside Reid who was in charge of the national squad) to ensure the effective delivery of the programme as a whole. In practice this involved the planning and running of various training sessions that take place at the pool, in addition to the day-to-day running of the programme, which included but wasn’t limited to liaising with other support staff, attendance at meetings, and planning of competition calendars. There was, therefore, a clear distinction between the categories of swimmer and coach in the programme. Each inhabits one of these roles only, it is not a fluid situation were positions switch. Nick and Tony both, however, have a background in the sport as competitive athletes at the highest level, and each has coached swimmers to senior international competitions including the European and World Championships, and the Commonwealth and Olympic Games. As a result, both coaches have occupied both the swimmer and coach positions, although not at the same time. Both coaches are male, white, and British, and neither of the coaches took up swimming with a view to becoming coaches. It is something that both have, however, made a professional commitment to. For both coaches this role is their main source of paid employment. Both hold sport related degrees, received from ANP Swimming, as well as other recognised coaching qualifications. It is this experience that affords them the ability to lead, coach, and guide their respective performance groups and the team as a whole. Consequently, swimming plays a significant part in the coaches’ and swimmers’ lives, resulting in them developing close working relationships that often extend beyond the basic coach to athlete relationship, where the athletes from time to time come

125 to the coaches with issues that are non-swimming related, seeking advice (fieldwork notes October 2017; February, 2018; July, 2018). Having introduced the reader to space and place of ANP Swimming, the following chapters will focus on the key themes generated from the data derived from the inhabitants of this aquatic lifeworld.