Swimmers bios revisited...
I'm currently reading Marc Parrish's Paths to the Olympics : maize and blue to Olympic gold (Detroit, MI : Colemar Press, 1997), and I really like it. So much so that I'm writing about it before I finish. The typesetting is kind of amateurish, and the photo reproductions aren't that great. But the content IS great. The book consists of interviews with 15 men who swam competitively for the Univ of Michigan and who went to the Olympics. Most went to Olympic Games in the 1980's and 1990's, but at least one was at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. The interviews concentrate on their swimming careers--family and friends are only mentioned in connection with swimming, and there's no mention of school lives or careers. That's a shame, because these guys all come off as articulate in their interviews. It'd be nice to hear how they combined school work and swimming, or how swimming has carried over in their work. But that's nit-picky. While I'm nit-picking...I do wish the author had provided a brief update on each person, as to what they're doing now.
But overall, I'm so glad I hunted this book down! The interviews are full of anecdotes, especially about the experience of competing (lots about the atmosphere in the "Ready Room"), but also about the Olympic experience overall, and early experiences with swimming. Other strengths of the book: it doesn't just focus on Americans! I've read interviews with athletes from Puerto Rico (a different kind of American, I guess), Turkey, and the Netherlands, with Brazil, El Salvador, and the Philippines yet to come. Also, these men aren't all gold-medal winners. Many more Olympic participants don't earn medals than do, but mostly we hear from the medal winners. This book is a nice contrast. Success or a "good Olympic experience" isn't defined solely by whether you earn medals or not.
(For other swimming books, see entries for June 13 2006, July 18, 2006, and October 10, 2006)
I'm currently reading Marc Parrish's Paths to the Olympics : maize and blue to Olympic gold (Detroit, MI : Colemar Press, 1997), and I really like it. So much so that I'm writing about it before I finish. The typesetting is kind of amateurish, and the photo reproductions aren't that great. But the content IS great. The book consists of interviews with 15 men who swam competitively for the Univ of Michigan and who went to the Olympics. Most went to Olympic Games in the 1980's and 1990's, but at least one was at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. The interviews concentrate on their swimming careers--family and friends are only mentioned in connection with swimming, and there's no mention of school lives or careers. That's a shame, because these guys all come off as articulate in their interviews. It'd be nice to hear how they combined school work and swimming, or how swimming has carried over in their work. But that's nit-picky. While I'm nit-picking...I do wish the author had provided a brief update on each person, as to what they're doing now.
But overall, I'm so glad I hunted this book down! The interviews are full of anecdotes, especially about the experience of competing (lots about the atmosphere in the "Ready Room"), but also about the Olympic experience overall, and early experiences with swimming. Other strengths of the book: it doesn't just focus on Americans! I've read interviews with athletes from Puerto Rico (a different kind of American, I guess), Turkey, and the Netherlands, with Brazil, El Salvador, and the Philippines yet to come. Also, these men aren't all gold-medal winners. Many more Olympic participants don't earn medals than do, but mostly we hear from the medal winners. This book is a nice contrast. Success or a "good Olympic experience" isn't defined solely by whether you earn medals or not.
(For other swimming books, see entries for June 13 2006, July 18, 2006, and October 10, 2006)
posted by Beth at 12:07 PM
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