Swimming on the web

Summer reading for swimmers - and more from the Halifax Trojan Masters August Newsletter

I got a copy of the Halifax Trojan Masters August Newsletter in my inbox yesterday and thought that a wider audience might be interested in some of the content.

Dear swimmer

Whether in the pool, lake, ocean or shower we can be sure that you are experiencing water in one way or another this summer - one that has not been characterized by a shortage of rain! Many of us also use the summer period to immerse ourselves in books. Accordingly I have taken the opportunity to identify seven books that take a variety of approaches to meeting the challenges that swimming can present, and to provide a brief background on each that might be sufficient a catalyst to get you turning pages. I hope you'll read on!?

Some Swimming Books For Summer
Nigel Kemp

Want to find out what its like to swim in Antarctica, the Amazon River, the English Channel, to try to qualify for the Olympics, to become an athlete, swim past 50, or finding out more about Masters swimming? One or more or all of the following books are for you.

STAYING WITH IT - ON BECOMING AN ATHLETE
by John Jerome 1982 Penguin Books
ISBN 0 14 00.870 0 224 pages

This is a book that has stood th test of time. At the age of 47 John Jerome decided to become an athlete.He put himself into serious training for Masters competition swimming - weight lifing, calisthenics, lap after lap in the pool, even attending an adult swim camp ( with sometimes hilarious results). He investigated too the science of athletic training, and came to realize that it might actually work in opposition to aging. He passed throught the stages of pain and growth to a joyful mental and physical reawakening. STAYING WITH IT is the story of that passage - a fascinating, lyrical, funny, suspenseful, and personal exploration of the ideaof athleticism (what it is, what it means, how it is achieved.) and its seeming obverse, the idea of age.

" An exiting .... warm, amusing story of victory over internal limitations... a consistently informative, invigorating performance"
- Los Angeles Times

MASTERS SWIMMING - A MANUAL
by Blythe Lucero and Cornelia Bleul-Glohlke 2006 Meyer and Mayer Sport(UK)
ISBN 1-84126-185-8 184 pages

Written jointly by a Masters swimmer and a Masters coach this publication provides an exciting and comprehensive look at the universal phenomenon of Masters swimming, its opportunities, rewards and challenges. Adult swimmers of all ages and levels of experience will find an abundance of useful information , ideas and resources in this book. The many faces of Masters participants are identified; a brief history of the sport is provided; and the question "WHY Masters swimming?" answered. Sections on readiness, working out ( including stroke analysis), the Masters swim team and sticking with it make this a winning read.

OFF THE DEEP END by W. Hodding Carter Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill 2008
ISBN-13:978-1-56512-564-3 209 pages

Every kid dreams of defying all odds to become the next Bruce Jenner, Mary Lou Retton or Eric Heiden. And then on to the Wheaties Box. Hodding Carter dreamed of being the next Mark Spitz ( or Michael Phelps?). Though he'd failed to qualify for the Olympics year after year after year, he never stopped believing he could get there. And as with most men, upon reaching midle age, he had trouble accepting tathis body - not to mention his hairline - was changing, and that he could no longer pass for a college kid. So Carter did what any reasonably insane erson would do. He set out to pursue his childhood dream once again of being a champion. Only now it meant being the oldest swimmer to quaify for the Olympics.This outraheous and courageous chronicle of a man chasing the gold is an exhuberant celebration of determination in the face of time and of achieving your goals at any age.

"Carter inspires people to go for their dreams at any age, and you can never get enough of that! This book is far more than a book about swimming."
Lynn Cox - author of Swimming to Antarctica

THE GREAT SWIM
by Gavin Mortimer Walker & Co NY 2008
ISBN-10: O-8027-1595-8 322 pages

During the summer of 1926, four American swimmers battled the weather, the odds, and each other to become the first woman to conquer the dangerous waters of the English Channel. In a race that captivated millions around the world, they forever changed the place of women in sport. Gertrude Ederle who shattered the men's record on August 6th, 1926 found out very quickly that her celebrity would be very fleeting and would come at a high price. A compelling read.

SWIMMING PAST 50
by Mel Goldstein & Dave Tanner 1999 Human Kinetics
ISBN 0-88011-907-1 216 pages; Illustrations 64

Swimming is a sport especially well-suited for older adults. But most books cater to younger, competitive high school and college swimmers and their coaches.

Swimming Past 50 offers age-appropriate fitness and competition training programs as well as many valuable insights for swimmers who have lapped the 50-year mark. Swimming is increasingly popular among this growing age group as it is an ideal sport for developing cardiovascular fitness while putting little or no wear and tear on bones and joints. This book provides special insights and recommendations for mature swimmers. Whether you swim to stay in shape or compete as a Masters swimmer, you'll find the material useful and accurate.

Authors Mel Goldstein and Dave Tanner know their subject matter well. Both swam at Indiana University under the tutelage of legendary coach James "Doc" Counsilman. Goldstein went on to coach Masters swimmers and to swim competitively, and he currently ranks among the top ten nationally in the 60 to 64 age group. Tanner is a world champion and All-American swimmer and also competes in a variety of endurance sports. As an exercise physiologist and high school swim coach, he has studied training methods and schedules for fitness and performance in swimming.

Whether you want to be a more efficient and fit lap swimmer or a faster competitor in the next Masters competition you enter, Swimming Past 50 is your guide to success. Training methods, stroke technique instructions, and drills are accompanied by important age considerations. The book also provides dryland and in-pool training programs for different levels of age 50 and over swimmers. As a special bonus, the authors have included sample workout schedules for the entire year.

SWIMMING TO ANTARTICA - Tales of a long distance swimmer
by Lynn Cox Harcourt 2004
ISBN 0-15-603130-2 359 pages

At age 16 legendary swimmer Lynne Cox reached her lifetime goal of setting a new wold record for an English Channel swim. So she set her goals even higher: She became the first to swimmthe Strait of magellen, narrowly escaping a shark attack off the Cape of Good Hope, and was cheered across the twenty-mile Cook Strait New Zealand by dolphins. her daring eventually led her to the 38F waters of the Bering Sea which she crossed in her usual outfit - just a swim suit, goggles and a cap. She even swam a mile in the iceberg-choked seas of the Antarctic. With a poet's eye for detail Cox shares the beauty of her time in the water in this classic sports memoir.

"Every recorded sea adventure by this celebrated American ocean swimmer is a triumph of a positive outlook, hefty preparation, and raw courage....It's the sharing of the swimming experiencethat create's the book's magic and the understanding of physilogical and mental endurance which supplies it's substance."
- The Economist

THE MAN WHO SWAM THE AMAZON - 3,274 miles of the world's deadliest river
by Martin Strel & Matthew Mohlke The Lyon Press 2008
ISBN978-1-59921-358-3 213 pages

Thirty-two hundred miles, piranha, crocodiles, anaconda, river sharks, blistering, and relentless sun, dangerous currents, river pirates and drug runners and the insideous candiru. Martin Strel swam throuh it all. Why? To call attention to the continued deforestation of the Amazon rainforest and to river pollution. This is a gripping and inspirational story of perseverence, passion and endurance: a real life odessey of a rare and driven man.

Canadian Amateur Sports Network (CASN/RSAC)

On the initiative of the Canadian Olympic Committee the CASN/RSAC is in the process of applying for a television network with the CRTC. CASN/RSAC will be the first 24-hour amateur sport network and will extensively and exclusively cover Canadian amateur athletes competing in both Olympic and non-Olympic sport disciplines.

For more information on the television network please visit their website www.casn-rsac.ca. They need the support of as many Canadians as possible, while you are visiting their site please take the time to fill out your letter of support for the network.

FREE Swimming World Magazine Olympic Games Preview Issue Now Available

PHOENIX, Arizona, August 4. THIS special Swimming World Magazine issue marks the second time that Sports Publications International has published a digital-only version of the magazine, allowing every swim fan throughout the world to download it for FREE.

Download FREE 2008 Olympic Games Preview here.

This one-of-a-kind issue, featuring Michael Phelps on the cover, is your best resource leading into the Olympic Games. The issue offers complete Event-by-Event Previews of all the pool swimming races, written by senior writer John Lohn. Steven Munatones rounds out the swimming events by telling us what to expect in his 10K Marathon Preview article.

The issue also features an article on the Top 10 Olympic Moments by Jeff Commings. Commings takes us back in time to relive historic moments in swimming, including Dawn Fraser's back-to-back-to-back gold-medal performances in the women's 100 free; Team USA's shocking win in the women's 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay over the drug-laced East Germans at the 1976 Olympics; and Janet Evans' record-breaking 400 meter free in Seoul.

For those traveling to Beijing, you'll have to read The Beijing Experience, which was written by Beijing resident Darryn Salt. For those staying home, you will enjoy reading Erica Ellis' article, All Eyes Are on the Cube, about the Olympic aquatic facility.

Ellis offers two additional stories in this issue. The first is entitled A "Clear" Concern, which discusses the challenges faced by the Olympic athletes due to the poor Beijing air quality. The next is called There's More Than Meets The Eye, which unravels the clever reason as to why there are five mascots for the Beijing Olympics.

Posted at 01:19PM Aug 06, 2008 by Lindsay in General  |  Comments[0]