Do What (S)HE Says and You Will Be a Champion: Poetic Representations and the Unmuting of My Swimmer Body

Abstract

A series of four poems were generated as a result of McMahon’s reimmersion into an elite swimming culture where she purposely revisited emotional and mental pain experienced 15 years earlier. Her reimmersion resulted in the re-engagement of torturous training and bodily regimes that other swimmers were subjected to and subjected themselves to. By presenting four evocative poetic representations, McMahon 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 and feel with McMahon’s bodily encounters, reflecting on them and drawing their own conclusions and understandings.