Welcome to "Becoming a Channel swimmer"

My name is Karen Throsby and I am a sociology lecturer at the University of Warwick. This website is part of a two and half year ESRC-funded sociological research project, entitled "Becoming a Channel swimmer: identity and embodiment in an extreme sporting culture".

The research is about the experience of becoming (or trying to become) a Channel swimmer, drawing on my own experiences, as well as those of other swimmers, boat pilots, coaches, family members, official observers, beach volunteers....basically, anyone involved in Channel swimming. As well as observing and training with swimming communities both in the UK and overseas, I am conducting interviews and studying a wide range of published and unpublished accounts, blogs and websites and media reporting.

The aims of the research are not only to generate a detailed account of the process of becoming a Channel swimmer, but also to ask what those experiences can tell us about sport, and about what counts as the sporting body, in contemporary society. I'm particularly interested in pursuing these aims in thelight of the contemporary "war on obesity" and the upcoming 2012 London Olympics and its legacy.

The data collection phase of the project is now completed and I am now working on analysing the data set, including over 40 interview transcripts, three years' worth of ethnographic field notes, and mountains of blog postings and press clippings. However, I would still welcome any suggestions for resources to add to the website - especially blogs, swim videos and useful books. Please feel free to browse the website using the buttons below, add comments or e-mail me at k dot throsby at warwick dot ac dot uk with suggestions for additional links and resources.

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