Splash!

February 10, 2020
With wit and rich detail, avid swimmer Means (67 Shots) documents the history of swimming, from Earth’s first “one-cell creatures,” which began life in water, through “aquatic apes,” who first mastered the “rivers, deltas, and coastal waters,” to today’s competitive swimmers such as Michael Phelps. Means argues that to take a dip has social, political, cultural, and religious implications—for the Greeks and Romans it was a celebration to be done nude, but in the Middle Ages and more Puritanical time periods, swimming was considered an abomination or a sign of witchcraft and thus forbidden. In the 20th century, Means writes, financial and racial divides have put swim lessons out of reach for many African-Americans. With painstakingly researched historical references, Means humorously imagines a Roman swimming pool the day before Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE: “a gaggle of indefatigable kids list in a noisy game of Marcus Antonius (Marco Polo, before there was a Marco Polo to name it after).” He intersperses his book with the musings of poets and inventors such as Lord Byron and Ben Franklin, along with anecdotes of athletes such as Annette Kellerman, a turn-of-the-20th-century Australian competitive swimmer. Means’s delightful history of humans in water simultaneously educates and entertains.

April 1, 2020

From the earliest days of recorded history, water has been a constant and essential partner for humankind. Means (67 Shots) now reveals the fascinating story of how we interact with water through swimming, from Egyptian cave paintings of dog paddlers created almost 10,000 years ago to modern-day Olympians, their aerodynamic swimwear and race times measured in hundredths of seconds. Religious beliefs, gender disparity, segregation, architecture, and fashion are also part of the history of swimming, as are milestones like the birth of the bikini and crossing the English Channel. Means packs an astonishing amount of information into one concise time line, with his own experiences and observations connecting different norms and eras. Sports fans who may have only a passing interest in swimming will find this an unexpectedly absorbing overview, with plenty of unforgettable characters and intriguing research. VERDICT An all-encompassing, yet highly accessible history of one of humankind's most elemental and popular activities, this title is recommended for everyone from sports fans to historians. For a sport generally underrepresented in library collections, this is a superb account of swimming's long and remarkable history.--Janet Davis, Darien P.L., CT

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2020
A nimble social history of humans at play in water. Swimming is a sport, an art, a form of meditation--and, by former University of Virginia swimming champion Means' account, very nearly a biological imperative, an expression of our kinship to critters that crawled out of the sea to make their homes on land. Those "fish-human comparisons" are intriguing: Put a human in water that's heated to 90 degrees, and you relax their heart; "knock the temperature down 10 percent or more," and you're in territory that brings relief from ailments such as asthma and rheumatism, to say nothing of bliss. "No wonder whales often seem more at peace with themselves than we humans do," writes the author. Given the antique connection with the sea, it's intriguing that a cave in desert Egypt, central to Michael Ondaatje's novel The English Patient, delivers the first documentation of humans afloat on the sea. Means delivers a lovely portrait of the zaftig Australian swimmer Annette Kellerman, "the woman who first liberated swimwear from the tyranny of Victorian morality"--but then, years later, sniffed of the newly invented bikini that "only two women in a million can wear it." The author also incorporates bits and pieces of cultural and sports history, such as early long-distance competitions and the rules of Olympic swimming. But some of the best parts of his book are memoir, as when he recounts a personal best of underwater swimming that took in 75 meters, surfacing only for fear that he'd pass out: "Water is the wrong medium for fainting." It's surprising that two pop-history books on swimming appear within two months of each other--the other is Bonnie Tsui's Why We Swim--but neither crowds out the other. Devoted swimmers will want to splash about in this entertaining narrative.

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May 1, 2020
Humankind has had a long relationship with water, from ponds and streams to white-capped oceans and bathing pools, and much of that relationship has taken the form of swimming. Like Bonnie Tsui in Why We Swim (2020), Means, a former Washingtonian magazine editor, is passionate about the virtues of swimming, and in this thoughtful memoir, he shares his family history and ties to the sport. While Tsui is more contemplative, even philosophical, in her approach, Means, while also covering swimming's history (addressing the Romans and Greeks as well as looking at the role of the English Channel in the sport), he also explores sociological topics like the evolution of the bathing suit; the societal role of outdoor pools, which increased in the U.S. after WWII; and the unfortunate role of segregation in swimming. One notable section is devoted to Australian Annette Kellerman, one of the first women to wear a one-piece swimsuit, who was instrumental in making swimming for women more socially acceptable. A comprehensive, well-researched homage to swimming as a component of survival, leisure activity, and competitive sport.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)