The Watermen: The Birth of American Swimming and One Young Man's Fight to Capture Olympic Gold

ISBN: 0593357043

Author: Loynd, Michael

Condition: New

The feel-good underdog story of the first American swimmer to win Olympic gold, set against the turbulent rebirth of the modern Games, that bring[s] to life an inspiring figure and illuminate[s] an overlooked chapter in Americas sports history (The Wall Street Journal)Once or twice in a decade, one of these stories . . . like Laura Hillenbrands Unbroken [or] Daniel Browns The Boys in the Boat . . . captures the imagination of the public. . . . Add The Watermen by Michael Loynd to this illustrious list.-Swimming WorldWinner of the International Swimming Hall of Fames Paragon Award and the Buck Dawson Authors AwardIn the early twentieth century, few Americans knew how to swim, and swimming as a competitive sport was almost unheard of. That is, until Charles Daniels took to the water.On the surface, young Charles had it all: high-society parents, a place at an exclusive New York City prep school, summer vacations in the Adirondacks. But the scrawny teenager suffered from extreme anxiety thanks to a sadistic father who mired the family in bankruptcy and scandal before abandoning Charles and his mother altogether. Charless only source of joy was swimming. But with no one to teach him, he struggled with technique-until he caught the eye of two immigrant coaches hell-bent on building a U.S. swim program that could rival the British Empires seventy-year domination of the sport.Interwoven with the story of Charless efforts to overcome his familys disgrace is the compelling history of the struggle to establish the modern Olympics in an era when competitive sports were still in their infancy. When the powerful British Empire finally legitimized the Games by hosting the fourth Olympiad in 1908, Charless hard-fought rise climaxed in a gold-medal race where British judges prepared a trap to ensure the American upstarts defeat.Set in the early days of a rapidly changing twentieth century, The Watermen-a term used at the time to describe men skilled in water sports-tells an engrossing story of grit, of the growth of a major new sport in which Americans would prevail, and of a young mans determination to excel.