Movie about swimming

He was indeed. It was released in 1968.

According to imdb.com a remake of "The Swimmer" is in production with Alec Baldwin. The plot summary for the 1968 version is given as: A pathetic middle aged loser, suffering mental delusions, decides to swim home via his neighbors' pools. He was met at each estate with a spate of emotions; great affection, indifference, snobbery, rejection, disgust, and jeering laughter. Many of these feelings either startled or shook him to the bone, but none so much as what he felt upon arriving home. Splendid drama with great performances and slicing dialogue. Definitely one of Lancaster's top pictures. Roger Ebert gives it four stars and says: What we really have here, then, is a sophisticated retelling of the oldest literary form of all: the epic. A hero sets off on a journey. He has many strange adventures along the way, during which he learns the tragic nature of life. At last he arrives at his goal, older and wiser and with many a tale to tell. The journey Cheever's swimmer makes has been made before in other times and lands by Ulysses, Don Quixote, Huckleberry Finn and Augie March.

Sam.....wasn't that based on your life? Yeah the girl in it looks just like my wife...:D You have to admit "the scene" was eye popping to say the least.

"Swimfan" is a great one! (Just kidding...) :D

Well I saw this last night & I thought it was really great-very moving. I actually learned alot & totally recommend.

On a Clear Day is about an English middle aged man who loses his job and decides to swim the English Channel as a way to regain his self-esteem and confidence. The character development is spotty and it moves along kind of predictably. There is a subplot that redeems it a bit. OK to watch once. Take it out from the library.

"Pride" (based on coach Jim Ellis, played by Terrence Howard) was a good flick, although I get the impression that real life story was more exciting than this somewhat standard sports flick. Next movie in my Netflix queue is "Heart: The Marilyn Bell Story", a made-for-television biopic about Canadian swimmer Marilyn Bell (played by Caroline Dhavernas).

Marilyn Bell when I was at the dedication at Niagara on the lake she came up to me and said "Hi Big Boy, I had a crush on you" She sent me this email a couple of months ago Hi George, I know you won't remember my married name, but perhaps you'll remember me from our aquatic days...a voice from the past...It's Marilyn Bell here. Bryan Findlay sent me your website. It was fun reading your bio and remembering all the good times I experienced at Hamilton Aquatic Club. I also have vivid memories of my trip to Hamilton after I crossed Lake Ontario. In fact somewhere in a box I have a photo of you and I taken on the steps of Hamilton City Hall. You looking splendid in your uniform, me looking shell shocked over all the hoopla. Wishing you safe swimming, Marilyn

George, do you have any thoughts about "Heart: The Marilyn Bell Story"? I'm wondering how it captured swimming in that time and place. :canada: I enjoyed it quite a lot, keeping in mind that it was made on a TV budget. But that is part of its charm. Minuses 1) The cut-off for making the club team was 1 min for a 50 yard free. Guessing the script writer meant 100 free, or 30 seconds. 2) Parts of the story are exaggerated (especially the "comedy" with the CNE promoters) Pluses 1) Funky lane lines, goggles, and swim suits. 2) Swimmers hesitating before diving into the river because they were cold 3) Caroline Dhavernas :D 4) I've never swam in Lake Ontario longer than 30 minutes, but I thought they demonstrated the struggle of a 21 hour swim pretty well :drown: 5) All the coaching tricks done by Ryder to keep Bell going when she couldn't :whiteflag: . Especially the scene where the reporter (in the boat with Ryder) called him "despicable" and Bell yells that she hates him. (Excellent coach-athlete dynamic.) 6) The other people in the movie saying Bell didn't have talent because she enjoyed swimming and wasn't a fast sprinter. (Sounds like the forum here sometimes... :bolt: )

Youtube video induction to the swimming hall of fame. video.google.ca/videoplay In the video she is wearing Swim Pro goggles in most of the swimming portions, when they mention the English Channel she is wearing Shake & Nods pictured below. I believe she wore a Janzen swim suit.during her swims. The cut off time would be correct, Gus Ryder's club The Lakeshore swim club was almost a a learn to swim school. They took almost none swimmers into the club. Of course they had lots of really good swimmers also. Allen Eagleson the NHL guy was a member. The guy who got in trouble, he was not a bad swimmer and was a good friend of mine. He had a couple of sisters that I really liked. I have the movie on DVD and will watch it again and I will tell you about the accurecy. Diving into the Credit River and the Humber River could be very cold. I have shivered many a time before swimming in those two rivers, but worse then the cold they were very badly polluted. There were very few swimmers at that time who could swim 100 yards in 1 minute. There were amazing crowds at the CNE to see the finish. You should have seen the exit from the CNE grounds that left to see her finish down the way. She did not finish at the CNE waterfront. I will check the numbers but I know there were over 200,000 at the exhibition waterfront waiting for her to arrive. I am going to download the goggles of the time and add them in acouple of minutes. These goggles happen to be the ones worn By Cliff Lumsdon a great Marathon swimmer of our time.