Leisure Constraint Negotiation Strategies among Serious Leisure Participants in Swimming: Experiences of Facility Use Restriction Due to COVID-19

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the leisure constraint negotiation strategies adopted by the people participating in swimming as a serious leisure activity in the context of COVID-19 by using qualitative research methods. The study was conducted over five months, from September 2020 to January 2021, via the use of snowball sampling. Six unmarried employees in their 30s living in Seoul and Incheon, Korea, were the participants of this study. Data collection was conducted through in-depth interviews, two or three times among each participant. For data analysis, all the recorded contents stated by the participants were transcribed. The results are as follows: first, among the leisure constraint negotiation strategies, the cognitive constraint negotiation strategies were “supernatural attitude toward swimming” and “positive attitude toward the post-COVID-19 period”; and second, among the leisure constraint negotiation strategies, behavioral constraint negotiation strategies were derived as “substitution of activity and motivation” and “participating facilities and crowding management.” Based on these results, it can be concluded that the special leisure experiences and leisure constraint negotiation strategies only for swimming within the framework of facility use restrictions were caused due to COVID-19 and further suggested ways to improve the practical management of leisure and sports activities based on the facilities.