Description
Swimming is magical, a bold excursion into an alien element that both exhilarates the spirit and calms the soul. To enter the water-whether the blue box of a pool or the untamed currents of the sea-is to see the world through a shimmering film. This is the universe that award-winning journalist and lifelong swimmer Lynn Sherr reveals in this engaging exploration of the joy of swimming: its lure, its lore, its timeless enchantment.
Swim celebrates every aspect of this ancient activity which has captivated swimmers from Julius Caesar to Michael Phelps, from Neptune to Nemoto the artistry of Esther Williams. With frequent excursions into its more amusing and eccentric aspects, Sherr reveals the history of the strokes and the secret of buoyancy; the romance of swimming in love and war; and how swimming has evolved into America's third most popular sports activity.
She also recounts the daring, personalc hallenge she took on: swimming the wild waters of the Hellespont-the iconic strait separating Europe from Asia-made famous by the Greek myth of Hero and Leander and elevated to an athletic milestone by Lord Byron in 1810. Could she, too, swim the Hellespont? Sherr weaves her adventurous tale throughout, in this first new book to juxtapose swimming's legendary roots with the cutting-edge science propelling modern Olympians across the pool; to inquire into the effect it has on our lives and why we do it; to examine how swimming is becoming more social than solitary today; and to analyze mounting medical evidence that the fountain of youth may well be filled with chlorinated water. From bloomers to bikinis to the saucy songs that salute it, Swim is a paean to all things aquatic.
Broadcast journalist and writer Lynn Sherr was an award-winning correspondent for more than thirty years at ABC News. She is the author of Tall Blondes: A Book About Giraffes; Outside the Box: A Memoir; America the Beautiful: The Stirring True Story Behind Our Nation's Favorite Song; and Failure is Impossible: Susan B. Anthony in Her Words. She coedited Peter Jennings, A Reporter's Life. She lives in New York.
Advance Praise
Esther Williams
"Lynn Sherr's book, SWIM, will help water be your friend and it will be
the best friend you'll ever have. I'm proud to be a part of that."
Lynne Cox, open-water champion; author, Swimming to Antarctica "I couldn't put this book down. It's a swimming party, with glamorous stars, ancient warriors and lovers, and some of the greatest and wildest swimmers. It's a story full of zen and exuberant energy and merriment. If you love to swim, you'll love SWIM!"
Kirkus: "A collection of swimming traditions and anecdotes wrapped in a celebration of the pleasures involved.... Her enthusiasm propels the book forward. That enthusiasm bleeds over into her history of swimming, which has a gratifyingly great sweep. From start to finish, she searches for the essence of why swimming has touched so many, be it Oliver Sacks (‘I never knew anything so powerfully, so healthily euphoriant') or Chairman Mao (‘Do you swim? Water is a good thing'). Sherr sends a sweet valentine, with enough background to keep it interesting, to a love that has never let her down."
