One very hot summer, Eric Dooley watches his younger sister go from her first swimming lesson all the way to the diving board, while his fear of the water keeps him from joining her and the rest of the people of Clermont County in the pool.
At the age of seventy-five, Elzibah Swan decides to take up swimming, a pastime which enriches her life and one which she shares through letters with her young grandchildren.
In trouble at camp because he has bragged about his non-existent swimming abilities, eight-year-old Danny finds himself forming an unexpected alliance with the bully "Two Ton" Tonya.