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Older women’s leisurely engagement with water: A 'wetrospective'

Nicole K. Dalmer
Department of Health, Aging and Society, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada; dalmern@mcmaster.ca

Meridith Griffin
Department of Health, Aging and Society, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada; griffmb@mcmaster.ca

Vera Gallistl
Department of Gerontology and Health Research, Karl Landsteiner University for Health Sciences, Krems, Austria; vera.gallistl@kl.ac.at

Kim Sawchuk
Department of Communication Studies, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada; kim.sawchuk@concordia.ca

ABSTRACT: Water is a vital but underexplored dimension of older women’s leisure. While aquatic activity is often framed through health promotion or 'active ageing' discourses, such framings can obscure the complex entanglements of embodiment, gender, environment and social life. This paper presents findings from a scoping review of 36 peer reviewed studies that examined older women’s engagements with water across diverse contexts and activities including swimming, aqua aerobics, surfing, rowing and wild swimming. Four clusters of meaning emerged: water as supporting physical and mental well-being; water as a medium for identity and agency; water as a site of belonging, memory and spirituality; and water as context for social connection and mutual support. These practices illuminate water’s role not only as a therapeutic resource but also as an agentic, affective and political force. By foregrounding older women’s watery leisure, we highlight tensions of safety and autonomy and of inclusion and exclusion, and we call for a hydrological turn in gerontology that is attentive to joy, risk and belonging.

KEYWORDS: Water, older women, scoping review, embodiment, water-based leisure