I have Diana Nyad's books and Swiimming to Antarctica, Penny Deans Open Water Swimming, Marcia Cleveland's Dover Solo and a few more basic training books. I like Diana's best but for planning/training information I haven't found anything I liked yet but maybe you have?
Which are your favorite training books and which are your favorite inspriational stories?
All these books being mentioned has just increased my "must read" list....what a great thread....reminds me of the thread a year or two ago about "what music do you listen to when you swim?" After that started I spent days in the music stores....now I'll be at amazon.com with my credit card....can someone start one about the best wine?!
Hi Randy:
I was listening to Robert Plant while swimming the other day. Which reminds me, I can't believe you were able to see Robert's sound check and meet him before his concert with out even trying. Back on swimming, 3 more books that I did not mention because they are really reference books with great swimming history.
100 Years of Olympic Swimming by Kelly Gonsaloes and Susan LaMondia, which has a history of Olympic swimming up to the 1996 Olympics. Great stories and has the results of all of the finalists and not just the medal winners. It was published in 1999.
You can still purchase this book but you better hurry because it will probably be out of print soon.
Weissmuller to Spitz by Buck Dawson, which details the first 21 years of people inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame. The years are from 1965 to 1986. Book was published in 1987. They are due for an update and I believe new chief Bruce Wilgo said they were working on it. I not sure if you can still purchase this. I got mine in 1987 when it came out.
Encyclopaedia of Swimming by Pat Besford, published last in 1976. This book has at least 4 editions and I have the 1971 and 1976 additions. It has all of the different countries different championships plus detailed histories of Olympics, World Championships, Pan Am Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. You can still get this because there was a lot of editions printed and is easy to fine.
My sister and I absolutely loved the book about Donna de Varona - is it still in print?!?. We must have read it a million times during age group swimming in the 60s-70s.
When you listen to music, do you have the waterproof IPOD or another device? I'd like to find something affordable but can't seem to find anything.
Wine: If you want something affordable Clos Du Bois - a Sonoma County winery is consistently satisfying. Chateau Ste Michelle from Washington State is not too bad either.
Something more pricier but great - any wines from Chateau Montelena are my personal favorite. :D
Hi Randy:
Thanks for sharing your list. I think Deep Water by Don Schollander and Duke Savage is one of the all time great books about swimming. It wasn't just a great biography about Don Schollander but it kinda of reflected the times in the 1960's and how swimming changed with those times. I have 3 copies of the book and was lucky to get Don to sign one through masters swimmer Robert Smith, the great backstroker from Oregon who grew up in swimming in Michigan. About 12 years ago Robert used to workout with Don in Lake Oswego and Don swam in Masters that year in Relays that made the Top Ten and I believe some of them made All American.
The book was kinda of controversial because it was like a tell all about swimming. He talks about the NCAA, AAU, Olympic movement and how he changed as a person from 1964 Olympics to the 1968 Olympics. There is a section that talks about how he was going to retire the day before the 1968 Olympics. I won't say anymore because I don't want to spoil it for anyone wanting to read it in the future. This book was published in 1971. You can still find this pretty easily.
Another book that I still believe is the greatest biography book written about swimming is "The 50 Meter Jungle" How Olympic Gold Medal Swimmers Are Made by Sherm Chavoor with Bill Davidson. This is kinda of a biography of Mark Spitz but goes beyond that and talks about all of the great swimmers from the Arden Hills. On the first page is a description about what's inside.
"I call our sport the fifty meter jungle. The actual arena of competition is just an ordinary rectangle of water, exactly 50 meters long and 25 yards wide. But it is the focus of more scratching and clawing, more struggling for power, and more parasitism than almost anywhere in the world of sports".
He then goes into how swimming changed from the 50's to the 60's to the early 70's. People don't realize it but it was Sherm Chavoor, not Doc Counsiliman, who prepared Mark Spitz for the 1972 Olympics in the spring of 1972. In fact when the college seasons was over, Mark would go back to train at Arden Hills in the summer and on college breaks. It also tells the story of how Mike Burton and Debbie Meyer got there starts and became 1968 Olympic Champions. Other swimmers in the book are John Ferris, who is Carolyn Boak's brother, Sue Pederson, Vicky King, David Fairbank, and Jeff Float just to name a few.
The book talks about injustices in swimming, why swimming was so contoversal with prejedices. How it when from a private and country club sport to a more professional sport where swimmers trained 5 hours a day. He talks about parent infractions at the club, how girls/women were perceived in the sport and how sad it was when Debbie Meyer retired from swimming 8 months before the 1972 Olympics.
This book is so good that every time I lend to someone they want to buy it. In fact, its the most expensive sought after book in swimming right now. I think if you can get a copy of the book for $50.00 you are lucky. That alone will attest to the greatness of this book. It was published back in 1973.
Both Deep Water and the 50 Meter Jungle were not advertised much in the Swimming publications at the time because they were considered very controversial.
Other Great books I would recommend are:
Swimming the American Crawl by Johnny Weismuller, published 1930.
Below the Surface by Dawn Fraser with Harry Gordon, published 1965.
Competitive Swimming As I See It by Steve Clark, published 1967.
Donna de Varona Gold Medal Swimmer by Donna de Varona and Bob Thomas, published 1968.
Six Days to Swim A Biography of Jeff Farrell by Jan Henning, published in 1970.
David Wilkie by Pat Besford and Tommy Long, published in 1976.
Champions The Making of Olympic Swimmers by Donald F. Chambliss, published in 1988. This book is the like a 1980's version of Gold in the Water by PH Mullen.
MichiganHusker Thanks for mentioning 'Chateau Ste Michelle from Washington State" - I have enjoyed it many times and will go buy a bottle tomorrow based on your recomendation...by the way.....Robert Plant and his band the Strange Sensation played at their vinyards two weeks ago and I am still upset I did make the show. Will read the Donna De Varona book, open a bottle and put on Roberts latest CD......got lots of time this weekend waiting for Wilma to hit us in South Florida.......
Anyone read the new History of Open-Water Marathon Swimming ?
Mp3-I use the H2Audio case with the Iriver and like it a lot for the pool. THey make a case for the ipod also.
Wine, I like Big House Red and Trader Joe's Well Red.(which is funny given the topic)
Terry:
Here is the thread that I was referring to about the swimming books.
Frank I had to relink Page 11 because I moved it to another page and you brought up some very old stories and I was getting emails that they could not see what they were supposed to. If you want to see that picture look here swimdownhill.com/.../page11.html I just added it to my web site.
