women swimmers

"From the pioneers of the early days of [woman's competitive swimming] to the superstars of today, [this book] tells the stories of the women who have thrilled and inspired fans both in and out of the pool"--Provided by publisher.

"Ren Yu is a swimmer. Her daily life starts and ends with the pool. . . . If she swims well enough, she will be scouted, get a scholarship, go to a good school. Her parents will love her. Her coach will be kind to her. She will have a good life. But these are human concerns. These are the concerns of those confined to land, those with legs. Ren grew up on stories of creatures of the deep, of the oceans and the rivers. . . . Ones of the creature that she's always longed to become: mermaid. Ren aches to be in the water. . . . And she will do anything she can to make a life for herself where she can be free. No matter the pain. No matter what anyone else thinks. No matter how much blood she has to spill"--OCLC.

"Meet 'The Original Mermaid,' Annette Kellerman! All her life, Annette wanted one thing: to feel free. As a girl she found freedom in the water, where she could swim without the leg braces she needed on land. As she grew up, Annette swam in Australia and England and America and beyond, performing synchronized swimming--which she invented!--and competing in swim races and diving exhibitions. But always she was bogged down by her heavy swim clothes. Clothes that only women had to wear, not men. So Annette designed her own swim costume. And then, she fought for the right to wear it--and for the right for all women to feel free"--Provided by the publisher.

"Describes the history of women in professional swimming, from the first early twentieth century through present day, including a look a races and synchronized swimming"--Provided by publisher.

Superstar swimmer Katie Ledecky has six Olympic medals and fifteen World Championship medals. Discover how this Olympian made history.

An illustrated biography of Annette Kellerman, an early feminist who overcame a childhood illness to become internationally recognized for her swimming, invention of water ballet, and introduction of the modern swimsuit for women.

The author shares her story of survival as a Syrian refugee stranded in the waters between Syria and Greece in a sinking boat. Highlights how she and her older sister, Sara, heroically pulled the boat to the shore as they swam through the choppy sea. Later, Yusra bravely goes after her dream of being an Olympic swimmer--a goal she attains when she swims in the 2016 Olympics.

Profiles American Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky, who has set several international records and won medals at both the 2012 and 2016 games.

At fifteen, Casey Legler is already one of the fastest swimmers in the world. She is also an alcoholic, isolated from her family, and incapable of forming lasting connections with those around her. Driven to compete at the highest levels, sent far away from home to train with the best coaches and teams, she finds herself increasingly alone and alienated, living a life of cheap hotels and chlorine-worn skin, anonymous sexual encounters and escalating drug use. Even at what should be a moment of triumph?competing at age sixteen in the 1996 Olympics?she is an outsider looking in, procuring drugs for Olympians she hardly knows, and losing her race after setting a new world record in the qualifying heats. After submitting to years of numbing training in France and the United States, Casey can see no way out of the sinister loneliness that has swelled and festered inside her. Yet wondrously, when it is almost too late, she discovers a small light within herself, and senses a point of calm within the whirlwind of her life. In searing, evocative, visceral prose, Casey gives language to loneliness in this startling story of survival, defiance, and of the embers that still burn when everything else in us goes dark.

Shares the life of Yusra Mardini, a Syrian refugee turned Olympic star.