Must reads are great stocking stuffers

Yeah, I read the original edition of Dover Solo. Not sure how the second edition differs, but a new version was published in the last year I believe. S

Gold in the Water, by P.H. Mullen, Jr. It's a biographical (not autobiographical) account of a few swimmers and a coach of the Santa Clara Swim Club in the buildup to the 2000 Olympics. Of the handful of swimming books I have read, this was the best.

I just picked up "Dover Solo" a couple weeks ago. Haven't started it yet, but I hear its the cat's meow for an OW swimming book.

Jon Urbanchek recommended the Talent Code but it's not about swimming Here's several that caught my eye as I browsed Swimming Fastest ~ Ernest W. Maglischo Age Is Just a Number: Achieve Your Dreams at Any Stage in Your Life ~ Dara Torres Complete Conditioning for Swimming ~ Dave Salo Triathlon Swimming Made Easy: The Total Immersion Way for Anyone to Master Open-Water Swimming (Paperback) Extraordinary Swimming For Every Body - a Total Immersion instructional book ~ Terry Laughlin Slow Fat Triathlete: Live Your Athletic Dreams in the Body You Have Now ~ Jayne Williams No Limits: The Will to Succeed ~ Michael Phelps Beneath the Surface ~ Michael Phelps Mastering Swimming (Masters Athlete) ~ Mo Chambers Young Woman and the Sea: How Trudy Ederle Conquered the English Channel and Inspired the World ~ Glenn Stout The New Rules of Lifting: Six Basic Moves for Maximum Muscle ~ Lou Schuler The Ultimate Guide To Weight Training For Swimming (Ultimate Guide to Weight Training for Swimming) (Ultimate Guide to Weight Training for Swimming) (Ultimate Guide to Weight Training for Swimming) ~ Robert G. Price Gold in the Water: The True Story of Ordinary Men and Their Extraordinary Dream of Olympic Glory ~ P. H. Mullen Fitness Swimming, Second Edition ~ Emmett W. Hines Golden Girl: How Natalie Coughlin Fought Back, Challenged Conventional Wisdom, and Became America's Olympic Champion ~ Michael Silver Masters Swimming: A Manual ~ Blythe Lucero The Swim Coaching Bible ~ *** Hannula The Man Who Swam the Amazon: 3,274 Miles on the World's Deadliest River ~ Matthew Mohlke I think some swimmers would love a Toypedo for taper time

cool, I put it on the list it's also very helpful for swimmers to have an underwater camera that also films video so swimmers can see what they are doing underwater because that's where the rubber hits the road or the paddles hit the pool. like Fujifilm FinePix Z33WP 10 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Green) or Olympus Stylus Tough-8000 12 MP Digital Camera with 3.6x Wide Angle Optical Dual Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Silver) or Pentax Optio W60 10 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom and 2.5 inch LCD (Pink) ~ Pentax I recently got my wife a Canon 7D, it's not water proof but it takes great shots & HD vid Canon EOS 7D 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3-inch LCD and 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Standard Zoom Lens ~ Canon The Canon Rebel is really great too & films in HD Canon EOS Rebel T1i 15.1 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3-Inch LCD and EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens ~ Canon here's a very affordable way to get HD Flip MinoHD Camcorder 2nd Generation, 120 Minutes (Brushed Metal) NEWEST MODEL ~ Flip Video Ande - have you looked at/read the "Ultimate guide to weightlifting....?" I have been told that this series (they have ultimate guides for other sports) are not sufficiently sport-specific. It may be a waste of money. A better weightlifting book might be "The New Rules of Lifting" which I have partially read and it is excellent.

I own or have read most of the books on Ande's list. The star narratives, such as M. Phelps's as-told-to autobiographies, can be browsed in an hour in the bookstore and are not, IMO, worth purchasing. Long distance (Lynne Cox, Marcia Cleveland) and historical narratives have clear interest for those interested in the specific part of swimming, as do the training books. Grayson is a lovely, breathing reflection on a day in the water with Son of Gray Whale. High praise for Gold in the Water, by P. H. Mullen, an excellent writer. Concentrates on Santa Clara Swim Club in year leading up to Olympics, and how twists of the web trap ppl or release them in the trials and at Olympic Games themselves. There is a social history of swimming pools on my wish list at Amazon. Haunts of the Black Masseur ("elegant essay on the cultural and psychological meaning given to" swimming) I remember as fascinating, though I haven't picked it up in years. Two not yet mentioned are Roger Deakins's Waterworld (breaststroking the length of Britain), which inspired Kate Rew's Wild Swim: River, Lake, Lido and Sea (or Daniel Start's Wild Swimming), bountifully illustrated vignettes of swimming as it orter be. DVDs are also great, and here I like M. Phelps's fly DVD. Other books: anything by Roger Angell. The War That Killed Achilles. A new book of folk photography, glimpsed only And one I gave is a book of avian-related poetry, w/ illustrations by David Sibley. Very nice for the country liver, and most can get through one page at a time of feathers and flight as metaphors. Read and swim! :)

Four Champions, One Gold Medal by Chuck Warner. It's about Tim Shaw, Bobby Hackett, Brian Goodell and Steve Holland and their training before the 1500 free at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Warner does a great job telling each athlete's story and you can really sense the excitement when the big race comes (even if you already know the result!).

Ande - have you looked at/read the "Ultimate guide to weightlifting....?" I have been told that this series (they have ultimate guides for other sports) are not sufficiently sport-specific. It may be a waste of money. A better weightlifting book might be "The New Rules of Lifting" which I have partially read and it is excellent.

Another one my mom gave me to read by a swimmer is Finding My Lifesaver A Swimmer's Journey Through Success, Burnout, and Finding Balance Kristen Woodring let us know if it's any good- i'm curious to read it if it is, mostly cause i swam with her at penn state...

I just started reading Young Woman and the Sea by Glenn Stout. This book tells the tale of Trudy Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel. It is written well and keeps the reader engrossed while passing on some good information. Doe any one else have any must read swimming books I should add to my list?