{"title":"Swimming \u0026 Diving","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"swimming-pretty","title":"Swimming Pretty","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Vicki Valosik\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTitle:\u003c\/b\u003e Swimming Pretty\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNumber Of Pages:\u003c\/b\u003e 368\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eRelease Date:\u003c\/b\u003e 0000-00-00\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDetails:\u003c\/b\u003e A groundbreaking history of how women found synchronicity-and power-in water.\u003cbr\u003e\"If you're not strong enough to swim fast, you're probably not strong enough to swim 'pretty,'?\" said a young Esther Williams to theater impresario Billy Rose. Since the nineteenth century, tensions between beauty and strength, aesthetics and athleticism have both impeded and propelled the careers of female swimmers-none more so than synchronized swimmers, for whom Williams is often considered godmother.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this revelatory history, Vicki Valosik traces a century of aquatic performance, from vaudeville to the Olympic arena, and brings to life the colorful cast of characters whose \"pretty swimming\" not only laid the groundwork for an altogether new sport but forever changed women's relationships with water. Williams, who became a Hollywood sensation for her splashy \"aquamusicals,\" was just one in a long, bedazzled line of swimmers who began their careers as athletes but found greater opportunity, and often social acceptance, in the world of show business.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEarly starlets like Lurline the Water Queen performed \"scientific\" swimming, a set of moves previously only practiced by men-including Benjamin Franklin-that focused on form and exhibited mastery in the water. Demonstrating their fancy feats in aquariums and water tanks rolled onto music hall stages, these women stunned Victorian audiences with their physical dexterity and defied society's rigid expectations of what was proper and possible for their sex.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFar more than bathing beauties, they ushered in sensible swimwear and influenced lifesaving and physical education programs, helping to drop national drowning rates and paving the way for new generations of female athletes. When a Chicago physical educator matched their aquatic movements to music in the 1920s, young girls flocked to take part in \"synchronized swimming.\" But despite overwhelming love from audiences and the Olympic ambitions of its practitioners, \"synchro\" was long perceived as little more than entertaining pageantry, and its athletes would face a battle against the current to earn a spot at the highest echelons of sport.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNow, on the fortieth anniversary of synchronized swimming's elevation to Olympic status, Swimming Pretty honors its incredible history of grit, glamor, and sheer athleticism.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e60 black-and-white illustrations\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eEAN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781324093046\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePackage Dimensions:\u003c\/b\u003e Weight: 1.73724262456 Pounds\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Vicki Valosik","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51863066509619,"sku":"9781324093046","price":28.4,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0949\/3636\/7411\/files\/11614853482659.jpg?v=1754189026"},{"product_id":"why-we-swim","title":"Why We Swim","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Bonnie Tsui\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTitle:\u003c\/b\u003e Why We Swim\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNumber Of Pages:\u003c\/b\u003e 288\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eRelease Date:\u003c\/b\u003e 2021-04-13\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDetails:\u003c\/b\u003e \"A fascinating and beautifully written love letter to water. I was enchanted by this book.\" -Rebecca Skloot, bestselling author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe swim in freezing Arctic waters and piranha-infested rivers to test our limits. We swim for pleasure, for exercise, for healing. But humans, unlike other animals that are drawn to water, are not naturalborn swimmers. We must be taught. Our evolutionary ancestors learned for survival; today, swimming is one of the most popular activities in the world. Why We Swim is propelled by stories of Olympic champions, a Baghdad swim club that meets in Saddam Hussein's former palace pool, modern-day Japanese samurai swimmers, and even an Icelandic fisherman who improbably survives a wintry six-hour swim after a shipwreck. New York Times contributor Bonnie Tsui, a swimmer herself, dives into the deep, from the San Francisco Bay to the South China Sea, investigating what it is about water that seduces us, and why we come back to it again and again.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn immersive, unforgettable, and eye-opening perspective on swimming-and on human behavior itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eEAN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781643751375\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePackage Dimensions:\u003c\/b\u003e Height: 8.375 Inches, Length: 5.5 Inches, Weight: 0.6 Pounds, Width: 0.625 Inches\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguages:\u003c\/b\u003e en\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bonnie Tsui","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51870366499123,"sku":"9781643751375","price":18.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0949\/3636\/7411\/files\/7193503482845.jpg?v=1754353415"},{"product_id":"the-troubled-deep","title":"Grew Up in the Deep South and Saved by Many Angels: Mother Stood by Her Troubled Son's Side","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Rob Parker\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTitle:\u003c\/b\u003e Grew Up in the Deep South and Saved by Many Angels: Mother Stood by Her Troubled Son's Side\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNumber Of Pages:\u003c\/b\u003e 142\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eRelease Date:\u003c\/b\u003e 2012-11-06\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDetails:\u003c\/b\u003e When Your Life Is Saved Again and Again ... You Learn to Value It! Clayton Arline is one of a family of twelve childrens, who grew up in a poor family in the Deep South. The children had to work on local farms to help make ends meet. They didn't have indoor plumbing, and their alcoholic, abusive father frequently beat their mother in front of them. But Clayton's mother had a core of steel. She stood up to her abusive husband, and she stood by her troubled son, Clayton, as he found his way through the world. This is Clayton's remarkable life story, in which he narrowly escapes death many times, from nearly drowning in childhood to escaping death from shotgun fire, car accidents, and neighborhood violence. Clayton didn't take his life for granted, and his life story shows how determination and focus, combined with the grace of God and the supportive love of an amazing mother, kept him on a path that led from a childhood in poverty to an adulthood with college degrees, racquetball championship titles, and recognition for extraordinary dedication to the vocational school where he became a Senior Aerospace Science Instructor. This fascinating and inspiring memoir is a testimony to the resilience of the human spirit, and what can be accomplished with faith and perseverance.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eEAN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781432795207\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePackage Dimensions:\u003c\/b\u003e Height: 9.21 Inches, Length: 6.14 Inches, Weight: 0.46076612758 Pounds, Width: 0.3 Inches\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguages:\u003c\/b\u003e en\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rob Parker","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51872257638707,"sku":"9781432795207","price":18.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0949\/3636\/7411\/files\/15326623482731.jpg?v=1754376842"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookabaloo.com\/collections\/swimming-diving-496792338739.oembed","provider":"Bookabaloo","version":"1.0","type":"link"}