Swimming is a skill that is never forgotten, as Benjamin Franklin observed in a letter to a friend. The Boston-born Founding Father loved aquatic exercise and gave swimming lessons in his younger days. Franklin’s aquatic exploits are merely one anecdote in the long history of swimming that is captured in “Splash! 10,000 Years of Swimming” by Howard Means. He includes everything from ancient pictograph representations of the sport to the record-breaking swims of U.S. Olympian Michael Phelps.

The book doesn’t avoid the hangups of similar works of this subgenre, so-called microhistories (think Mark Kurlansky’s “Salt” or Bill Bryson’s recent guide through “The Body”), since the book’s accessibility in the breadth of its coverage comes at the cost of depth in any one topic. But “Splash!” sets itself apart as the author’s lifelong passion for swimming seeps through every word. Jovial and informative, Means takes readers on a tour of the sport and the ebbs and flows of human attitudes toward it.

Read if you: Want a wide-ranging look at swimming, from the ancient Greeks, the Jim Crow era, modern Olympians, and more.

When did humans begin swimming? If you've ever wondered that--and even if you haven't (which is more likely)--try this in-depth but very accessible history of swimming. The author has experience in competitive swimming, which adds a personal/insider aspect.

Librarians/booksellers: A good purchase now, but definitely purchase for next year's Tokyo Olympics!

Many thanks to Hachette Books and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

I have been a swimmer for exercise and sport for as long as I can remember so when this book came out for an ARC, I jumped on it. IT was interesting to learn how the concept of swimming started and the reasons people did it. I found the chapters about the first swim strokes then to be fascinating and how they are quite different from the four main strokes that are accepted today; perhaps I will try them. I also found it interesting how swimming became am accepted sport as well as for exercise.

I thought this book was well researched and carefully written. This book can get anyone interested in the topic, and as a swimmer, it should be a must read. Cant wait until the hard copy is out because I am definitely buying it. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 6/2/20

For the most part, this book on the history of swimming was quite interesting. It covered much more than just the sport itself. The chapter on swimwear and how the attitudes toward nudity or covering up was very interesting. It is a very detailed and dense book, however and is not one that will be a quick and easy read. More than just sport, the book also explains how swimming was an important part of the lives of some historical,figures such as Benjamin Franklin. A very interesting book.

What do you get when you cross a historian with a devoted swimmer? This book, a very complete history of swimming with the author's personal perspective incorporated. The book starts at the beginning of time for humans and water and continues to the present. The first swimming strokes were different than those we have today. Swimming was not considered a sport until fairly recently. One's body type and the relative proportions of his or her limbs affect how fast one can swim. These and many other fascinating facts can be found in this book, which now joins Contested Waters; A Social History of Swimming Pools In America by Jeff Wiltse and Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsui, to be one of my three my favorite books about swimming.
This book will thrill confirmed swimmers and will encourage those not yet confirmed to get into the water. Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this title.