A Leisure Model: Barriers and Black Womxn Collegiate Swimmers

Abstract

There remains a gap in the literature about the experiences of Black Womxn Collegiate Swimmers (hereafter referred to as BWCS) and the application of the leisure constraints model. Whether research has been conducted with Black Womxn Swimmers enrolled in a swimming course while using an autoethnographic lens (Norwood, 2010) or the representation of one Black Womxn Swimmer from a Predominantly White Institution (Quash, 2018), minimal knowledge is known about this specific demographic representative of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) and the barriers they experience. Using a qualitative methodological approach to understand the leisure constraints experiences by BWCS, this study methodically invited this demographic to share and discuss their lived experiences across generations. By challenging the leisure constraints model, this article revisits research completed by Chick and Dong (2003) and Waller and Norwood (2009). The researcher interviewed twenty-five self-identified Black Womxn Collegiate Swimmers (current and former), between the ages of 19-61. Each interview focused on the experiences and the barriers participants encountered during their collegiate swimming careers. The analysis presents a new theoretical construct to replace the leisure constraint framework while working with a marginalized population. The results of this narrative inquiry suggest that the experiences of BWCS differ individually but have similar themes as a collective; thus, charging the field of leisure behavior to consider the experiences of marginalized groups who excel in a leisure activity outside of societal and cultural norms.