Publishers Weekly
★ 11/09/2015
This rags-to-riches story revolves around school teacher Soichi Sakamoto, who took a group of Japanese-American children from a poor, segregated Hawaiian sugar plantation and taught them how to be champion swimmers, practicing in one of the plantation's fetid irrigation ditches. If the basis for the book doesn't sound amazing enough, how the story unfolds—Japan vying for the Olympic games, Pearl Harbor being bombed, WWII changing the world forever—allows the story and characters to evolve in uplifting and heartbreaking ways. Debut author Checkoway is equal to the task of telling this moving narrative. From page one, where she writes "Lip-locking lovers perambulated... and holiday makers gathered... under Maxfield Parrish skies," it is evident that Checkoway's ability to set a scene is uncanny and accomplished. Her top-notch skill as a researcher allows her to bring to life the long-forgotten saga of the swim team, which she fears might otherwise "simply disappear." Depicting determination, discrimination, hope, anguish, hard work, and hard choices, Checkoway has created a sports history that is singular in its own right, and a fitting testament to the over 200 youths who swam for many reasons toward one goal: "Olympics First! Olympics Always."(Oct.)
From the Publisher
"A brightly told story of the triumph of underdogs... exuberant, well-researched...tense, vivid, and inspiring."—Kirkus Reviews
"If the basis for the book doesn't sound amazing enough, how the story unfolds—Japan vying for the Olympic games, Pearl Harbor being bombed, WWII changing the world forever—allows the story and characters to evolve in uplifting and heartbreaking ways...it is evident that Checkoway's ability to set a scene is uncanny and accomplished...Depicting determination, discrimination, hope, anguish, hard work, and hard choices, Checkoway has created a sports history that is singular in its own right, and a fitting testament to the over 200 youths who swam for many reasons toward one goal: 'Olympics First! Olympics Always.'"—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Remarkable real-life account...about as underdog as it gets."—Boston Globe
"An inspiring true tale of grit and determination... Checkoway skillfully weaves vivid scenes into a larger narrative with a varied cast of characters to create a stirring, though exhaustive, account ...Pair this with The Boys in the Boat."—Booklist
"This story of one (at first) seemingly unremarkable man and his effect on camp children and the world of swimming is both inconceivable and dazzling. You won't want to miss it."—Book Reporter
"This captivating nonfiction, featuring engaging individuals and portraying a tumultuous time in history, chronicles Hawaii's second golden age of swimming. Sports and history enthusiasts will enjoy this title as much as book clubs and general readers."—Library Journal
"Checkoway carefully weaves together facts into a sweeping historical tapestry."—The Salt Lake Tribune
"Checkoway's story of youthful perseverance will earn a place on the shelf with The Boys in the Boat."—The National Book Review
"Save the story she has, through exhaustive research and sparkling prose."—BookPage
"[A] reverent tale...Through meticulous research, Checkoway brings crisp focus to a fuzzy time in American history...The book carries hints of The Boys in the Boat...Checkoway stays true to her salvage mission. She unearths characters flawed and fetching and shines an unflinching light on race and class...glorious storytelling and a triumphant, unpredictable finish."—Minneapolis Star Tribune
"Shows that sometimes all you need to start something epic is a dream."—Bustle
"Checkoway takes on an incredible story of overcoming obstacles and defying the odds...poignant."—Swimming World Magazine
"This story of one (at first) seemingly unremarkable man and his effect on camp children and the world of swimming is both inconceivable and dazzling. You won't want to miss it."—Book Reporter
"A good and graceful writer."—Honolulu Magazine
"A made-for-the-screen story."—Outside Magazine
"Exceptionally well-researched and well-written."—ESPN.com
"A wild, improbable story that makes for popular Hollywood movies but rarely happens in real life. But this story's real."—Maui Time
"This true story is entertaining and absorbing and good for the soul."—Sunset Magazine
"A classic underdog story...Had [Checkoway] not written this book, their exact story might have never been told, but instead, American swimming's most fascinating chapter gets the shine it deserves."—Deadspin
"Lively, at times history reading more dramatic than fiction...surprises wait in both the pool and in the story of these remarkable characters."—Petoskey News
Library Journal - Audio
★ 02/15/2016
Looking at the 1930s and the 1940s through a Hawaiian Japanese American lens presents a new perspective on the years leading up to World War II, the war itself, and the London Olympics. This is an incredible story about a Japanese American elementary school teacher, not a swimmer himself, who taught and coached "sugar ditch kids" to swim and eventually compete nationally and internationally. Through discipline and individualized training, Soichi Sakamoto propelled the sons and daughters of Japanese sugar plantation laborers to become international swimming stars and Olympic medalists despite harassment, snubs, and other discrimination. World War II erupted just as the swimmers reached their athletic prime. During the war there were no Olympics, and the boys were sent to Europe to fight for their country. All the Three-Year Swim Club members survived, and although they were nearly too old for competitive swimming, the strongest members earned spots on the U.S. Olympic team, competing in London in 1948. This remarkable story is narrated by Alex Chadwick, whose strong voice and flawless pronunciation of Japanese names enhance the listening experience. With a PDF of photos as well as author notes. VERDICT The struggles and successes of this coach and his team will bring tears to listeners' eyes. The 2016 Rio Olympics should stimulate demand for this outstanding title. ["Sports and history enthusiasts will enjoy this title as much as book clubs and general readers": LJ 10/1/15 review of the Grand Central hc.]—Ann Weber, Los Gatos, CA
Library Journal
10/01/2015
It's 1937 and Tokyo is campaigning to host the 1940 summer Olympics. Meanwhile, on the Hawaiian island of Maui, the children of sugar plantation workers are causing mayhem in the irrigation ditches. Checkoway (Creating Fiction; Little Sister) tells the astonishing journey of a schoolteacher who, with no prior knowledge of swimming or coaching, started a swim team for these children with the goal of making it to the Olympics. Guided by Coach Sakamoto, whose approach to swimming was both radical and tyrannical, the dream incredibly starts to become a reality. Members of the Three-Year Swim Club, as they are called, travel to the U.S. mainland, win national competitions, and are invited to international ones. As world events take a tragic turn, it becomes a long, frustrating wait as Olympics after Olympics is canceled. What place will swimming play in the lives of Coach Sakamoto and his swimmers as time passes, and will anyone be competition-ready when the games resume? VERDICT This captivating nonfiction, featuring engaging individuals and portraying a tumultuous time in history, chronicles Hawaii's second golden age of swimming. Sports and history enthusiasts will enjoy this title as much as book clubs and general readers.—Zebulin Evelhoch, Central Washington Univ. Lib.
FEBRUARY 2016 - AudioFile
Narrator Alex Chadwick’s lightly dramatic voice keeps listeners focused on a fascinating story. Soichi Sakamoto's Three-Year Swim Club in Maui hoped for glory in the 1940 Tokyo Olympics, a goal thwarted by WWII. Julie Checkoway dives into the past for accounts of swimming records, training innovations, and the swimmers themselves. These branches flow into a larger story of growing global tensions, Olympics history, and Japanese-Americans in Hawaii. It's occasionally poignant, as when a club member encounters a German P.O.W. he once met in competition. When the account turns to swim meets, Chadwick's voice sounds wonderfully like vintage radio coverage. There's athletic triumph, but the war's toll on those hopes hits home. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2015-09-02
A brightly told story of the triumph of underdogs. In 1937, Soichi Sakamoto formed the Three-Year Swim Club, whose members were children of workers living on a Hawaiian sugar plantation. Sakamoto, a teacher who could hardly swim, had seen them frolicking in a dirty, shallow ditch and made a proposition: "Three years of discipline. Three years of sacrifice. Three years of nothing except swimming" would yield great results. If they worked hard and cared enough, he was certain they could become members of the United States men's swim team at the 1940 Olympic Games, to be held in Tokyo. Filmmaker, journalist, and nonfiction writer Checkoway (Little Sister: Searching for the Shadow World of Chinese Women, 1996, etc.) fashions the story of the tireless Sakamoto and his eager swimmers into an exuberant, well-researched, if sometimes overly detailed celebration of unlikely champions. As a coach, Sakamoto combined encouragement—he learned the power of positive thinking from Norman Vincent Peale—with intense attention to stroke technique and training regimens. With the help of former Olympians and enthusiastic sportswriters, he publicized his team and raised money to send them around the world to compete, and they performed astoundingly well. His star, Keo Nakama, for example, swam against 1,100 competitors in Sydney, Australia, coming in first in every race. Not surprisingly, where money and fame were at stake, rivals emerged. One in particular tried to wrest control of the team from Sakamoto, criticizing his methods and manipulating himself into a position of power. But Sakamoto persisted, even when the 1940 Olympics were cancelled after Japan invaded China and subsequent games were scratched because of war. Not until 1948 did members of the team—men as well as women—compete in the Olympics, proving themselves champions. Details about training, swim times, and the team's travels occasionally overwhelm Checkoway's tense, vivid, and inspiring narrative. Not without its flaws, but a good choice for fans of David Halberstam's The Amateurs (1985), Daniel Boyne's The Red Rose Crew (2000), and similar books.
