sports & recreation / olympics

"The . . . story of the small Vermont town that has likely produced more Olympians per capita than any other place in the country--and whose citizens provide a model for achieving excellence while leading a well-rounded life"--Provided by publisher.

"This story is rooted in the power of sport, but it is not a sports memoir. Yes, Course Correction chronicles one young woman's transformation from a couch potato-in-training into an elite athlete who reached the highest echelon of her sport. In addition, the book offers a persuasive example of the enormous impact of sports participation on the rest of life and validates the power, import, and necessity of Title IX. Just like Ginny, girls everywhere deserve the chance not only to dream of athletic stardom, but to reach for it. Ginny discovered rowing as a freshman at Yale. From her first strokes as a novice, Ginny found herself in a new world. Starting with her first practice, she trained alongside two Olympics-bound rowers. Then a mere handful of months into her freshman year, she participated in the now renowned Title IX naked protest on campus. That event not only forced Yale to provide equal access to sports facilities for its women athletes, but helped mold the future of women's crew programs across the country. Course Correction recounts the physical and psychological barriers Ginny had to confront and overcome to achieve the extraordinary. Taking place against a backdrop of unprecedented cultural change, Ginny's story personalizes the impact of Title IX, demonstrating the life-changing effects of lessons learned in sports far beyond the athletic fields of play. Her journey wends its way to the Olympic podium in 1984, detouring through the 1980 Olympics, which the United States boycotted at then-president Jimmy Carter's insistence, carries her through family tragedy, strengthens her to face her own demons and truths, and ultimately frees her to live her life despite her persistent fear of loss"--.

Tells how in 1936 the University of Washington's eight-oar crew, composed of the sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers who had mastered collegiate rowing, went on to the Berlin Olympics where they defeated Adolf Hitler's German team to achieve the Olympic gold medal.