Book cover of One Stroke at a Time

Book description

This book features the accounts of 33 open water swimmers: their highs and lows, their successes and failures. There are stories of swims done all over the world - including the iconic English Channel and Robben Island crossings - and accounts of record-breaking swims. There are common threads that run…

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Why read it?

1 author picked One Stroke at a Time as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Stories of 33 accomplished open water South African swimmers include history-making, record-breaking, courageous, outrageous, and sometimes dangerous swims. The stories show their preparation, training, why they challenge themselves, and how they completed the swims.

I couldn’t put the book down and read it within three days. I devoured each story. Kiki Marx swam across the Dead Sea. Herman Van Der Westhuizen swam several of the Oceans Seven routes and was close to drowning. He felt he challenged himself to the brink of his ability.

Harold Warrington’s advice on how to overcome fatigued muscles was to employ a 10-second rule: complain…

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Book cover of These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

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