Do what (S)HE says and you will be a champion: poetic representations and the unmuting of my swimmer body

A series of four poems were generated as a result of Author 1’s reimmersion into an elite swimming culture to revisit emotional and mental pain experienced 15 years earlier. Her reimmersion resulted in the reengagement of torturous training and bodily regimes that the other swimmers were subjected to and subjected themselves to. By presenting four evocative poetic representations, this author empowered and expressed her 40-year-old body’s sensations and experiences as she resubjected it to a culture that continues to torment her. These four poetic representations indeed assisted her to sort, ponder, and acknowledge her body’s experiences, voices, and her ever-evolving embodied consciousness. It is hoped that the audience will think with Author 1’s bodily encounters, reflecting on them and drawing their own conclusions and understandings.