Abstract:
By focusing on my bodily experiences as an Australian elite swimmer using an autoethnographic framework, this paper contributes to work on sociology and the body. It specifically focuses on the relationship between the regulatory practices of others on my body and my development of self-regulatory practices. I named these regulatory practices as 'ethnophysiological' as they were triggered in the specific social context of Australian swimming and were legitimated through "values packaged in a scientific wrapping" (Vertinsky, 1985, p. 73). Autoethnography, an "autobiographical genre of writing" (Ellis & Bochner, 2000, p. 739) has been utilized as it enables the reader to vicariously share my athletic experiences in particular my bodily experiences, bestowing a voice of authority to my body to reveal personal experiences, voices and feelings. Within this paper, I will re-tell my stories of being an elite swimmer. I will detail stories of enaction, coach and peer regulation and self-regulation occurring within the elite culture persisting my career over a nine-year period. I use Sparkes's (2004, p. 159) question in regard to embodiment to reflexively shape my analysis; "what do my memories reveal about the socialisation of my body" and draw on literature relevant to sociology and the body.
Keywords: Regulation; Body; Autoethnography; Swimming, Ethnophysiology
Keywords: Regulation; Body; Autoethnography; Swimming, Ethnophysiology