Women-Only Swims Offer Religious, Personal Freedom

Life-long Columbia resident Katlin Lamke learned to swim as a young child through the Columbia Association and enjoyed the activity until her early teen years.

As she matured physically, she found that she got unwanted attention at the pool.

As a result, she stopped swimming.

Shehlla Khan, a Muslim, could not swim in co-ed settings because of religious dress codes.

When her husband became ill, it was hard for the mother of three to take her children swimming when she had to remain fully clothed.

In talking to other members of the Dar al-Taqwa Mosque, Khan realized many other men and women wanted separate swimming times.

Lamke, Khan and several other women — and a few men — gathered Tuesday to celebrate the creation of a women-only swim session at the Columbia Swim Center.

They also celebrated the efforts of a diverse community that came together to work for the good of all, speakers at a press conference announcing the program said.

Dar al-Taqwa members got together with other local congregations that participate in People Acting Together in Howard, a countywide, multi-racial, interfaith, non-partisan citizens organization.

The result of the collaborative effort with the Columbia Association was a pilot program of women-only swim sessions that kicked off Oct. 25.

The Columbia Swim Center in Wilde Lake will be reserved for females only — young boy children are allowed to accompany their mothers — from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, according to Shelia Green, spokeswoman for the Columbia Association.

While the request for the women-only swim time is rooted in the Muslim community, the program is open to all women and girls, Green said.

The program is an experiment that will run for at least three months before CA staff members evaluate its progress.

"For the most part, we'll look at participation and need," Green said. "We'll see how it evolves."

When she first heard of the request for the separate swim time, Columbia resident Anne Gould said she didn't understand the need.

She was worried that creating a gender-specific swim session would give the perception of stepping back in time; of creating an unequal status for women.

But, she said, through talking with Muslim women in the community, she came to a better understanding of the need of the program that includes Muslim women in an activity they enjoy, instead of shutting them out.

Many communities, universities and organizations across the country have such programs designed to meet the cultural needs of diverse communities, according to an article in the Baltimore Sun.

On occasion, the organizations are accused of unfairly catering to one group, according to the Sun.

But in Columbia, religious mandates aren't the only reason women want the single-sex swim time.

Lamke, 18, said that, as she developed physically as a young adolescent, swimming stopped being a fun activity and the neighborhood pool became a place to be stared at and hit on.

She said she's grateful for the chance to swim with only others of the same sex.

"I have to go to work today," she said after the press conference. "But I will definitely use it."

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