Rating: 
Summary: dynamic human-interest story--Must read!
Review: "Seabiscuit" is not about a horse. It is about the people around the horse and their competitive desires, ambitions, and very interesting lives. In exactly the same way, "Gold in the Water" is not just about the sport of swimming. It is about a handful of compelling people living the Olympic Dream and trying to learn the elusive secrets of being great.Quite simply, I could not put this book down the first time I read it. After a second reading, I believe this is the best true-life sports drama I've ever read. The message is as strong as Lance Armstrong's "It's not about the Bike", and the writing is far better. Personally, I think businesses could benefit from the motivation messages. Young people would do well to emulate the strong character of the books subjects, particularly two swimmers who don't even make the Olympics, Kurt Grote and Dod Wales. I thought the coach, Dick Jochums, is too hard and stubborn in places. But he got me to start working out again, so he can't be all bad. This is definitely a book to put on your list.
Rating:
Summary: Thumbs up from a former elite athlete
Review: All I can say is that it is one of the best true-life sports accounts I've ever read. As I came into the final chapters about the Trials and Olympics, I could literally feel my pulse quicken and the fight-or-flight part of my nervous system dump adrenaline into my system. Having personally been down the road of Olympic training for rowing, I could really identify with the characters and what they were going through. If anyone thinks the depiction of the pressures and exhaustion the athletes face in training for the Olympics was "played up", they are sorely mistaken. If anything they were toned down. Training at this level is utterly exhausting-- physically, mentally, and emotionally. The emotional side is the most draining as it is the aspect that must be kept in control constantly as it either instills confidence or lets self-doubt creep in. And I know many elite athletes (including myself) whose personal relationships were destroyed as a result of the intensity and single-minded dedication required to excel at this level. There is a tremendous amount of sacrifice involved that most people never see. But back to the book....I thought Mr. Mullen did a magnificent job of getting into the minds of the athletes and coaches...in a way, swimming really was really just a backdrop to what I felt was the true story- the interaction of the players and their motivations, fears, desires, etc. At the same time, I was never left wondering about some technical aspect of the swimming. A must read for everyone, especially young people who think that school or any other challenge is "too hard".
Rating:
Summary: The Right Stuff
Review: At long last, an up close and personal look at USA elite swimmers. Mr. Mullen tells an engrossing tale of the odyssey of four young men striving for berths on the Olympic team, Australia 2000. Most Americans are unaware of the depth, strength and long tradition of the USA's predominance in Olympic swimming. US teams are so strong that unfortunately, we have to leave at home as many deserving finalists as those who go. Only two representatives of each individual swimming event are allowed for each country. (It used to be three, but the powers that be were tired of the US taking gold, silver and bronze in every event.) The lead actors are All-American Tom Wilkens, multi-faceted Kurt Grote and everyone's dream or nightmare of a coach, Dick Jochums. Supporting roles showcase super controlled Dod Wales, son of an acclaimed Olympic swimmer, and burn out Tate Blahnik who has it all, but is tired to death of competitive swimming. The author follows these magical four for eighteen months culminating in the 2000 Olympics. The front cover calls these four "ordinary men." I strongly disagree; they are unique and extraordinary athletes. Tom Wilkens, in particular, grabbed my attention, affection, and awe. This book is a page-turner; I read it in one sitting. It is not just for swimming aficionados, but also for anyone who likes to read about what it takes to become a champion and the inevitable burdens on the strength and psyche of the contenders. A glossary of terms would have been helpful, but the author is masterful in his explanations. As a parent of a former age group swimmer, I can attest that this is no puff piece; Mr. Mullen tells it like it is.
Rating:
Summary: Superb! Destined be a All-Time top 10 best sports book
Review: I am not a swimmer, so I was amazed to find myself hooked by Gold in the Water from the first lines on Page One. This incredible book has everything you will ever want in a sports tale--drama, rivalry, flawed character, human emotion, and high stakes. The characters themselves were so real you feel like you're their teammates. I've never read a book that comes remotely close to chronicling so much intimate, personal details about world-class athletes. Surprise (not): Deep down, they're like everyone else. I can't remember the last time a book could make my andrenaline race AND make me cry (more than once). The final pages were full of surprises. That made the unexpected ending all the more triumphant. Gold in the Water sets the standard for describing the pure beauty of athletes chasing an impossible dream with all their hearts.
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Summary: Great Book Takes You Inside the Olympic dream
Review: I feel like I have been to the Olympics. This book is as grand and awesome as it is deft and smart--It presents a snapshot so intimate and truthful about the elite athlete and the drama of every day & every minute counting. A friend (former swimmer) gave me an early copy of the book and said I would learn to love swimming by the time I was finished. She was right. I almost jumped out of my seat to shout encouragement and I didn't what it to end. That's how affecting and personal this story is. But more to the point, the book reminded me why I loved sports in general. Like Chariots of Fire, Hoop Dreams, and sports books like Lance Armstrong's "It's Not About The Bike," the athletes here are heroes whether they win or lose. Should be required reading for any sports enthusiast!
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Summary: Powerful and inspirational
Review: I hate Chicken Soup for the Soul books. I'm not interested in reading a book that makes you feel warm and musy for three seconds and then allows you to live your life the same way thereafter. So normally, I won't read an "inspirational" book. But this book was amazing! First of all, it didn't just talk about who we would expect, like Moses or Krayzelburg. This just went into detail about one swim club, and shared the stories of the top swimmers from there, even though they weren't all gold medalists. Further, you got to see all sides of their story. How they got into swimming, what the press thought of them, how they interacted with each other, how they did at other meets. The whole book is so interesting, and you will laugh and you will cry. Most importantly you will stay up until 4AM all week until you finish it because this is not a book you can easily put down!
Rating:
Summary: Powerful and inspirational
Review: I hate Chicken Soup for the Soul books. I'm not interested in reading a book that makes you feel warm and musy for three seconds and then allows you to live your life the same way thereafter. So normally, I won't read an "inspirational" book. But this book was amazing! First of all, it didn't just talk about who we would expect, like Moses or Krayzelburg. This just went into detail about one swim club, and shared the stories of the top swimmers from there, even though they weren't all gold medalists. Further, you got to see all sides of their story. How they got into swimming, what the press thought of them, how they interacted with each other, how they did at other meets. The whole book is so interesting, and you will laugh and you will cry. Most importantly you will stay up until 4AM all week until you finish it because this is not a book you can easily put down!
Rating:
Summary: I love this sports book!!
Review: I love this sports book!!
Rating:
Summary: Unexpectedly great writing and research
Review: I was attracted to this book because my son is a competitive swimmer. He's not a voracious reader, but he zipped through Gold in the Water in a few days. Then he started passing it around his swim team. Last month, I read it. Mullen brings together a combination of understanding of the sport, empathy for athletes and coaches and a journalist's attention to truth and detail in putting together this book. The story of these athletes preparing for a year and a half for the two minute-event that will decide whether on not they make the Olympic team has all the emotion, conflict and suspense of a great novel. This is the best sports book I have read since Boys of Summer.
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Summary: America's Sport
Review: If this book can reach a wide enough audience, it will finally elevate swimming to the status it should enjoy in the United States. For a century, the US has produced the world's best swimmers (and this book shows who they are, and how it's done). And yet, unlike Australia, where swimmers enjoy icon status, swimmers in America are considered "soft" (as one reviewer put it), or simply not considered at all. This fabulously detailed and riveting story reveals the incredible attributes, and glaring flaws, of the swimmers and coaches whose lives it depicts. This is a wonderful contribution to sports literature, and a long-needed depiction of how swimming programs in the U.S. produce great athletes and great people.
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