Tag: inclusive fitness

fitness · fitness classes

Why is Aquafit Primarily for Older White Women?

Diane Harper3 Comments

Aquafit is a great activity but I am having complicated feelings about it.

I first enjoyed aquafit way back in university, in the early 1980s. It was a deep water class, almost like HIIT but in the water.

Now that I’m lifeguarding, I notice a very different dynamic. These days, it’s almost all older white women, many of them with mobility issues, judging by the poolside collection of canes and walkers.

At best, there about 30% men in a class, but that’s rare. Usually the ratio is closer to one in 10 (or none at all) in the classes I guard. People of Colour equally rare, as are people under the age of what I’m guessing is about 50.

Why is that?

Generally, aquafit is pitched to older women, with popular American music from the 60s and 70s. While a few older men may join in, it often seems to be because they are addressing a specific medical issue or recovering from surgery. But no younger, fitter men join, perhaps because it is perceived as a “women’s” activity. People of colour, who are often newer immigrants in my area, may not feel a connection to the music that the majority loves to sing along to.

The timing of classes could also be an issue. They are offered during the day, when retired people are more likely to be available. Earlier and later in the day there is competition for pool time with swim clubs and lane swims, possibly because because more of those swimmers have to get to work or school.

We could change the perception of aquafit as being an easy, social activity for elderly women. Some places do offer intensive aquafit, but it doesn’t seem to be an option where I live.

Or maybe I could just learn to accept that these women enjoy having their own space, where they can sing, or chat, or work as hard as they want. This Guardian article has a lovely description of the joys of aquafit.

A photo of older women at an aquafit class, from the Guardian article mentioned above. Photograph: Barbara Alper/Getty Images

Maybe not every sport needs to be all things to all people.

Or maybe we need to have more male or visible minority, instructors and more classes at times that work well for the people who currently aren’t participating.

Or maybe we just need more sports facilities. I can dream…

inclusiveness · swimming

I Got to Use My Powers for Good!

Diane HarperLeave a comment

Back in 2022, I mused about using my power for good by becoming a lifeguard and giving back to the sport I love so much.

Since I started working almost a year ago, I have taken great pleasure in teaching recent immigrants who are five times more likely than people born in Canada to be non-swimmers. I have also had the joy of lifeguarding for a day at the pool for women who are normally excluded from swimming because beaches and pools are mixed gender.

This week was extra special. In the summer, a teen drowned at one of the city’s beaches. Teachers at their high school responded by getting a Jumpstart grant so that girls who had never learned to swim could take female-only lessons. They even bought a big bin full of modest swimwear and sports hijabs to be used by anyone who wanted them.

We blocked all the windows for privacy and I had the pleasure of teaching 20 teen girls to put their heads under water, jump in (a couple even tried it in the deep end), float, glide, and try some basic strokes.

The girls were great – smiling, overcoming their fears and helping each other. The teachers were wonderful too. I really appreciated that both got into the water and worked with students so that a few were able to swim most of the width of the pool by the end of class.

Not “my” girls. These young women wearing modest swimsuits and floating peacefully in a bright blue swimming pool are from a Nike modest swimwear ad campaign found on models.com. The photographer is Paola Kudaki.

It was the perfect way to hit 225 on my 225 workouts in 2025 goal.

Sadly, this was only a substitute assignment for me because the regular teacher was sick. I have put my name in to be called first if she needs to be away again, and offered to teach any future sessions that might be offered.

beach body · diversity · fun

Goths at the Beach

Diane Harper1 Comment

I recently discovered that World Goth Day is a thing, but Goths at the beach is a twist I hadn’t expected. Silly me.

It turns out there are Goth beach events and barbecues and beach toys and swimwear and more.

My recollection of Goth culture from the past was that people into the Goth aesthetic tend not to be into fitness activities. Maybe things have changed. Maybe things haven’t changed and some were always into fitness but trapped by the stereotype.

Either way, I hope they have a fabulous time at the beach tomorrow.

As from the Goth Beach Day at Britannia Beach in Ottawa shows a woman in a black dress, wearing sunglasses and a wide-brimmed black hat. She is sitting on a sandy beach, holding a large black umbrella.
Sat with Nat · trans

Nat chose to engage in a confrontation about women’s sports

natalieh (she/her)1 Comment

Despite my plucky demeanor I do not seek out conflict or confrontations. They do find me though. Sometimes I do the calculation and decide it’s safe enough for me to give it.

Friday April 18 was a stat holiday in Canada. My beloved and I decided to pop in to one of our favourite breakfast spots and then go vote. Advance polls were open for our federal election and we didn’t want to miss out on participating.

We had a wonderful meal. As we were finishing up, a table of four were seated next to us. Michel made a face as they walked to their table. My back was to the group.

He spoke to me in French “We need to leave, I’ll explain outside.”

Despite being in a multi-lingual community we often use French when we need to speak “in code”.

I flagged our server to ask for the bill. Then I saw what was written on the shirts and hoodies of the table next to us.

“Keep women’s sports female.”

“There are only two genders.”

“Say no to males competing as females.”

My jaw dropped. I gave them the stink eye. As our server brought the point of sale I told my partner in code “I’m going to say something as we leave.”

He made big eyes. I knew he worried he would loose his temper. I wasn’t sure I could do better but the hot feeling in my belly prompted me to take action.

My quick calculation was that we were leaving, I would be standing and able to easily get away.

I chose to leverage my cis-gendered, white, middle class privilege.

I switched to English as I stood to leave and faced their table.

“I’m shocked that you would proudly wear hateful things on your clothes in public. My kid is trans. She is excluded from so many things. Why would you think that calling for exclusion of anyone is ok?”

One person asked if I loved women. I wish I had the wherewithal to say something quippy like “So much so I’ve gone down on them.” but I merely said “yes”.

They then started spewing rhetoric about protecting women.

“I do not feel protected by what you are doing. You are being awful. You ruined our time here today with your slogans. I hope you have a terrible day.”

Then we left.

Why did I bother saying anything? These folks were not looking for a debate. They were looking for people to loudly agree or silently implying endorsement.

I refused to allow them to think I agreed with them. I wanted them to take their awful hatred and hide it.

This “movement” is thanks to the American president issuing an order about excluding trans and gender nonconforming people from participating in sport in February.

The American Civil Liberties Union has a lovely article from 2020 on the myths about trans athletes and how those are used to incite hatred.

Four Myths about Trans Athletes.

Cate also wrote about Why the conversation about trans people in sports isn’t about trans people in sports.

This is not about women’s sports but we do need to talk about inclusion in our sports settings.

Sport gives us so much and culturally we are regressing with respect to inclusion. And I’m not having it.

I share this experience with you so that you can think about when you want to confront people. Or take other actions. Any one of us can’t do everything but we can each do something. We need to be brave. We need to speak up. We also need to be safe. I trust you to figure out what works for you.

I’m still thinking of better things I could have said.

Pink and blue letters proclaim “trans rights are human rights”. Designed by Tim P Simpleton. Used with permission.
equality · fitness · swimming

Swimming skills equity

Diane Harper

I have a new gig teaching a class of swim-to survive-students. It is offered by a local school board to third graders in at least some of their schools. The program recently restarted after being stopped during the COVID lockdowns.

Students get three one-hour lessons. There are about 12 kids per instructor. That’s a very high ratio to supervise. My regular learn to swim classes have between five and eight students, depending on the age and skills.

My group all needs lifejackets because none can swim even half a length of the pool. Some of them are afraid to put their faces in the water.

It’s not enough! We live in a country with a lot of lakes and rivers. Even if these kids never leave the city, there are plenty of opportunities to get into trouble in one of our rivers or ponds, or the canal. Many of these kids are newer immigrants, or from low-income families. Private swimming lessons may not be an option for them.

I’m happy I can give these kids the basics of a few survival skills, but what happens if they don’t have access to a lifejacket except during these lessons?

I feel like we are failing these students, as we have failed to provide equitable access and opportunities for water safety and sport so many poor and visible minority kids for generations.

Three children in red lifejackets in a swimming pool. Adobe stock photo.
diversity · equality · feminism · fitness · gender policing · inclusiveness · sexism · stereotypes

The Harms of Gendered Sport and How We Could Fight Back

Diane Harper

Cate’s great post from a couple of weeks ago, combined with the latest over-the-top reaction to a trans athlete who hasn’t even competed since 2022 (aren’t all reactions over the top when people are complying with the rules?) led me down a rabbit hole of the harms gendered sports do more generally.


University of Pennsylvania’s Lia Thomas competing in 2022. On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump suspended about $175 million US in funding for the university over the participation of Thomas in its swimming program back in 2022. (John Bazemore/The Associated Press)

I have written about it before, here, and about Lia Thomas and other trans athletes. As a good analyst should, I am putting my biases on the table: I have trans friends, both men and women, who have gone from being suicidal and afraid to use a public washroom or change-room, to being happy and physically active. But as Cate said, and the “punishment” of the University of Pennsylvania shows, the whole trans athlete garbage isn’t really about trans athletes, especially at the elite level.

So what if we were to fight back by refusing to play along? What if we developed more all-gender sports, like we have already done for ultimate frisbee, mixed curling and many other new team sports, and which has been the standard in equestrian sport for decades? What if we changed the rules so that sports valued artistic merit, endurance and flexibility as much as they do upper body strength? What if women could do throws in figure skating, or compete in pommel horse? What if we then changed uniform rules so that men could wear sequins and women could wear pants (or at least shorts that covered more than most of the crotch)?


China’s Sui Wenjing and Han Cong competing during the Winter Olympics at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing. Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP via Getty Images

What if we simply stopped having men’s and women’s categories for things like shooting or fencing, where gender seems completely irrelevant? What if people like Katie Ledecky could compete against male swimmers? It is entirely possible she doesn’t know for sure just how much she is capable of because she races at different distances than men, and so outstrips many of her competitors that she may never have pushed herself to her absolute limits.

What if these rule changes led to much more equitable funding for sports traditionally segregated to women, or seen as too feminine (gymnastics, figure skating)?

There will undoubtedly be pushback, just like what we are seeing now against the LGBTQ+ community, from men who think they are losing something when women gain something. We will need to keep up the fight for fairness in sport. It’s a fight worth having for men, women, everyone.

Women’s Day at the Pool
accessibility · diversity · fitness

Women’s Day at the Pool

Diane Harper

On Monday I had the privilege of lifeguarding at a women-only swim event in Ottawa. As far as the staff there know, it’s the first one organized at that particular pool, although we were told that a similar space was rented years ago for a privately-run swim.

Why women only? There can be many reasons, but one of the biggest in our multicultural society is that some women are not comfortable being seen by anyone other than their male family members. Other women may be self-conscious about their bodies. And some may simply enjoy sharing space with women.

A 2020 Danish study found that “The participants connected swimming with well-being and self-care and portrayed women-only swimming as a space of belonging, where they felt comfortable and safe and were not only protected from the male but also the ‘white’ gaze that they encountered in other situations, such as when wearing a burkini on the beach.”(Women-only swimming as a space of belonging, December 2020, Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise 14(2)). UK-based The Women’s Journal noted in March 2023 that “female-only swimming sessions can provide a safe and comfortable environment where women can exercise without feeling vulnerable or exposed. This is particularly important for women who have faced harassment or assault”. They also offer a a sense of community and camaraderie to women who may feel isolated or unsupported in other areas of their lives. And finally, they ensure more equal access to fitness and exercise for women who feel uncomfortable in mixed-gender environments.

The swim took some effort to set up: we hung tarps over every window in the facility so that no-one could peer in. At the last minute, we were advised that people could still peek through some cracks, so there was a scramble to tape things more firmly closed, and cover up gaps with garbage bags when we ran out of tarps.

Some of the many tarps put in place for privacy near the pool area.

We worried that not many people would come, but in the end there were some 120 participants for three hours. Not bad at all, considering that people told us they had only heard about the event the day before. But they were happy to come from all over the city of Ottawa.

So who did come? Women of all ages, many with young girls and their friends. I would guess that the majority were originally from North Africa or the Middle East, but there were also women who appeared to be of sub-Saharan or Indian sub-continent descent. There were women in burkinis, in tunics and leggings, in dresses, in bathing suits, wearing hijabs, head scarves, bathing caps, and glorious braids. There were women and girls of all ages from senior citizens to toddlers.

Will it happen again? I hope so. The head lifeguard on duty also runs women-only swimming lessons and mused about whether similar events could be run on a regular basis. Certainly the women who came to swim would welcome it, judging by the feedback we got. Several asked who they should contact to tell them what a wonderful experience it had been and how much they would like to see it repeated. If they do, I’ll be volunteering to lifeguard again.

The pool just before opening. The artificial beach and wave pool is in the foreground, with warm-water wading pools, a lap pool and giant slide in the background.
disability · fitness · inclusiveness · swimming

Spirit Orcas Masters Swim Team

Diane Harper

My friend Susan Simmons in British Columbia has a passion for marathon open water swimming and for coaching swimmers with disabilities.

She and her swimmers have done some amazing things over the years, but today marks a new step.

The Spirit Orcas, Canada’s only inclusive Masters “para” swim club, is competing at a Masters Swim Association of British Columbia (MSABC) swim meet in Nanaimo today. Five adult swimmers with intellectual and physical disabilities are set to compete amongst neurotypical and able-bodied swimmers in several events.

The Spirit Orcas, many of whom have their roots in Special Olympics, formed a swim club last year when British Columbia’s only para swim club halted its program. To promote inclusion in sport, the club members opted to take the bold step of registering as a Masters rather than para or “disabled”.

The Spirit Orcas have become well known for their open water achievements, including their relay swims in the Great Bear Rainforest and an 80km staged around Victoria’s peninsula. The swim meet in Nanaimo, however, is their first official competition outside the disability community.

As Susan says “It is only when we compete in the same spaces with each other that we have achieved inclusion”.

Maria, Drew, Melisa and Dixon, all members of the Spirit Orcas, prepare for a relay

Good luck to everyone! I hope you have a great time.

Living Your Best Aquafit Life
fitness

Living Your Best Aquafit Life

Diane Harper2 Comments

A few weeks ago, one of the young lifeguards I work with commented about the older ladies living their best aquafit life, and I found myself feeling very defensive on behalf of these women.

They are generally older, having lived through a time when they had no access to credit or even credit records in their own names, and few job opportunities. Many are widows. Some have health conditions that limit their ability to do certain sports. They have a community that meets regularly to exercise while listening to fun music. They really are living their best aquafit life.

Aquafit is coming back into my life almost 40 years after I first tried it in university. It was fun at a time when Jane Fonda and dancercise were all the rage, but fell off my radar as it evolved a low-impact activity that appealed to women my mother’s age.

At our last in-service training, we had to do a mini aquafit class, which I am sure was an attempt to convince some of us to get our instructor qualifications. I surprised myself by realizing

  • it’s actually fun; and
  • it can be hard work.

Today I joined 349 others plus at least 5 instructors and Santa at the Nepean Sportsplex for Jingle Bell Splash, in an attempt to set a world record for the largest aquafit class, and raise funds for the Ottawa Food Bank. We succeeded!

My certificate from the Jingle Bell Splash

As we were leaving, my colleague Carine, who is an aquafit instructor, encouraged me to do the training the next time an opportunity arises. Even if I don’t want to teach regularly, there are occasional opportunities to step in when someone needs a replacement.

One of the prerequisites for the instructor course is to have completed at least two aquafit classes. I think I will enjoy that. Maybe I’m finally ready to start living my own best aquafit life.

Aquafit class at Nepean Sportsplex. Photo by Anchal Sharma, CBC.
athletes · swimming

To All the Mediocre Athletes: I Salute You

Diane Harper

You are the people who don’t take advantage of your glide in breast stroke. Who walk in the lane rather than swimming. Who do some sort of head’s down dog-paddle. Or who do very short strokes and over-cross your arms in freestyle. Or who don’t follow every movement in aqua fit class. Or take it easy instead of pushing yourself throughout.

But you show up every single session and do your workout, whatever it may be. Already I recognize and expect to see you when I’m lifeguarding.

If I were you, I would welcome coaching or lessons because improving my strokes and speed are constant goals. But you seem happy to be moving through the water, and that’s the important thing.

You demonstrate discipline I don’t have, just by showing up every day.

Older women smiling and laughing during a water aerobics class. Photo from oldldadygains.com