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Oh my God, is this really happening?!" Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Oh my God, is this really happening?!" Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is'nt the standard swimming book, I bought to encourage and motivate my own swimming but it has done so much more. The twist in the book is that despite being packed with detail, and swim specific information, it can be read like a storybook not just by a die-hard swimmer but by anyone with even a slight interest in the olympics in general. From the moment you read the first paragraph you will not put this book down. Mullen has obviously got an impressive knowledge of both the olympics and swimming, but also of how to tell a story. Well worth reading.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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38 reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Compelling and engrossing
1 Nov 2001
Format:Hardcover
This book is a compelling and engrossing character study of a group of super-achieving athletes with congruent but sometimes competing aspirations. It has an excellent narrative drive that made it a real page-turner, and perhaps because it pulls no punches in its treatment of its focal characters, the reader is left with a deep appreciation for the complex and usually (but not always) admirable qualties of elite athletes. Swimmers tend to be smart, and this is an intelligent treatment of both swimming and competition in general: this book is to the standard sports expose as collegiate swimmers' GPAs are to the GPAs of (pick your contact sport) players. Although I read this on the recommendation of a friend who is a serious swimmer, I feel it deserves an audience far beyond the competitive swimming world, for which I'm sure it will be required reading.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
The Right Stuff
25 Nov 2001
Format:Hardcover
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.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Superb! Destined be a All-Time top 10 best sports book
28 Oct 2001
Format:Hardcover
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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