02/10/2020

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 With painstakingly researched historical references, Means humorously imagines a Roman swimming pool the day before Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE: “a gaggle of indefatigable kids list in a noisy game of Marcus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. (June)

"What could be more audacious an act than the attempt to tell the entire 10,000-year story of swimming in a single volume? But that is exactly what Howard Means's Splash! aims to do. Splash! is an exuberant and sweeping cultural history of the sport and a thoughtful meditation on its possible origins and humankind's larger relationship to water itself. From the first evidence of swimming in Middle Eastern desert cave art to "aquatic heroism" in ancient Roman warfare, to a visit with the uber-stars and superhuman speeds of the 21st century—Means takes us on a breezy, easily readable journey across time and space to help us even to begin to understand why we took to the water in the first place and why we still insist on splashing about in it today. A great gift for the swimmer in you or in your life."—Julie Checkoway, New York Times bestselling authorof The Three-Year Swim Club

"Howard Means' Splash! has raised the bar for the 'swimoir'! He takes masterful strokes through 10,000 years of the cultural and social history of swimming and makes the strongest case yet written on why everyone should swim."—Bruce Wigo, former CEO & President, International Swimming Hall of Fame

"Splash! is an incredible book—the most amazing stories of anything and everything you wanted to know about the world and culture of swimming and its history. I loved every page!"—Rowdy Gaines, three-time Olympic Gold Medalist and Olympic television swimming analyst

"With wit and rich detail,... Means's delightful history of humans in water simultaneously educates and entertains."—Publishers Weekly

"A nimble social history of humans at play in water... Devoted swimmers will want to splash about in this entertaining narrative."—Kirkus Reviews

"A thoughtful,... comprehensive, well-researched homage to swimming as a component of survival, leisure activity, and competitive sport"—Booklist

"Splash is a tour de force across the history of swimming... One of the better explanations of swimming I've ever read.... A joy to read. It should be on every swimmer's reading list and in every swim bag alongside cap, goggles, fins, and paddles."—SwimSwam Magazine

04/01/2020

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

2020-03-15
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.