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I’m working through my homemade summer reading list and am excited to share my latest read with you.
It’s “Why We Swim” by Bonnie Tsui.
I bought this book during the pandemic and was waiting for the right time to read it. It’s part history and part memoir, but all of it focuses on swimming.
Tsui’s personal experience swimming in the open waters, particularly in the San Francisco Bay from Alcatraz to shore, initially drew me to this book.
If you’ve ever been to Alcatraz, you probably know why this shocked me. But to take it even further, I had no idea people swam in open waters… for fun?!
I blame my general fear of the ocean depths for not knowing this, but I’m still in awe.
Back to the book.
Taui shares her extensive history with swimming, but she also navigates other areas of swimming, such as wellness and competition. There’s even a bit of swimming for survival, which was interesting.
Before reading this book, I never considered my relationship with swimming. But when I think back, much of my childhood was spent in the pool or driving to a lake or a beach.
I’ve always associated larger cities with bodies of water, but only because of shipping ports. I never actually thought about how much humans enjoy swimming.
I’ve been swimming several times each week lately in the pool at my apartment complex. Seeing how far I can swim without touching the bottom of the pool reminds me of being a kid.
There’s something about that floating feeling of being in the water, drying off in the sun, and taking that post-pool-day shower followed by icy aloe on warm skin.
It really is an immersive memory for me.
Tsui’s writing is well done; I wish she had taken this book even further. I’d read more about swimming!
If you are interested in swimming, I recommend this book — especially right now as we approach the summer Olympics!
For more book recommendations, be sure to subscribe to the blog (look to the right) and follow me on Goodreads @thebitterlemon – where I share more of my book picks. Also, check out my printable bookmarks and Book Club Journal Pages in my Etsy Shop.
The Bitter Lemon 