«Jeg tenker det bare er å lære seg å svømme. Det er vel det eneste som er viktig».

This article presents the results of a study on pupils' lived experiences from secondary school swimming lessons. In this study, lived experience is linked to the phenomenological concepts of lived body, time, space, and relationships. This is further linked to the students' “meaning making”, and to how this has an impact on participation and social interactions. Tenth grade pupils from same class at a secondary school were interviewed. The analysis of the interviews took place in four stages and was based on the systematic text condensation method (Malterud, 2011). The analysis and interpretation processes generated two main narratives about the lived experience from the swimming lessons. The first narrative is that swimming lessons are experienced as separate and different from other physical education lessons. The second narrative is about what we have chosen to call the "body display" aspect of swimming lessons. Through these narratives, the study describes a problematic swimming lesson where pupils experience that the swimming lessons seem disconnected from the physical education subject. At the same time, the physical aspect of the swimming lessons, the body focus, presents another challenge that is discussed. The phenomenological lens in the study also contributes to establishing a view of the "movement" of lived experience along a continuum between tense, uncertain and regulated bodily expression on the one hand, and effortless and free bodily expression on the other, regardless of situation and context. More research is needed on how didactic practices emphasizes skill development in swimming and lifesaving as a means to prevent drowning accidents, and furthermore, how this influences students’ bodily expression, development, and formation in swimming instruction as part of the physical education subject.