Are women less likely to use the swimming pool at the gym, for reasons of insecurities, than men are?
Do women feel more exposed and ashamed of their bodies in a bathing suit?
Why are women more likely to wrap themselves up in a towel?
Do women feel more comfortable, and therefore choose to swim, during off-peak times when there is poorer attendance at the gym?

It is very apparent (at my gym) that most gym members that utilize the swimming pool are male. This noticeable difference between male and female swimmers became very evident to me shortly after I started frequenting the gym. I am now interested to find out whether it might be women’s physical insecurities and low self-confidence that could be the cause of gender imbalance in swimming pool users. Perhaps men feel less shy about exposing their bodies to fellow gym members than women do. My aim is to find out whether I am correct in my prediction that women feel more insecure about their bodies in front of other gym members than men do.

Furthermore, I am interested to know whether a high attendance at the gym has a different effect on female gym members’ confidence and comfort levels than poor attendance does. Perhaps anxiety levels are reduced when there are fewer onlookers around, and heightened when the gym is full at peak-time. If this is the case, perhaps some women choose to swim in the pool at times when the gym is less busy, or opt for exercise outside of the pool (such as using the gym’s equipment or partaking in group classes) when the gym is well attended.