Journalist Bonnie Tsui (American Chinatown) submerges her story of how and why she's come to be intrigued with all facets of human aquatic experience in a larger investigation into the historical evolution of swimming.
Tsui's parents met at a swimming pool in Hong Kong. Tsui learned to swim at the age of five and, growing up, spent many hours in the surf at Jones Beach, a heavily frequented summer destination on Long Island. Tsui credits the recreational practice of swimming for keeping her afloat through her parents' divorce, college, knee surgery and miscarriage. Now, she's an adult and mother of two young children, swimmers themselves. Tsui continues to swim in pursuit of peace, pleasure and exercise, while also on a quest to understand the many reasons why humans, who are not natural-born swimmers and must be taught, have always been drawn to water.
From this foundation, Tsui dives deeper into eclectic stories about collective and individual swimming experiences, including Olympic athlete Michael Phelps, who mentally calms his symptoms of ADHD through conditioning rituals and competitive swimming trials. The most fascinating case studies in the book, however, center on incredible plights. Guðlaugur Friðþórsson, an Icelandic fisherman, was forced to swim for his survival for six hours in dangerously frigid ocean waters when his vessel went down in the 1980s.
In presenting each story, Tsui shares what the water and swimming means to each individual, while also tying in inspiring insights. Tsui is a poetic writer whose flowing, immersive prose and colorful storytelling will hold significant appeal for readers--especially swimmers--of all curiosities. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines