By: Emily Wang

Swimming has long been a way to express oneself. There are many ways someone could portray their feelings and emotions, and swimming is one of those ways. Many books have been written about this subject, and these are just a few of them.

Swimmers, written by María José Ferrada, was inspired by a charcoal, collage and ink painting by Mariana Alcántara. The book is about fish who dream of becoming Olympic swimmers, and Olympic swimmers dreaming of becoming fish. The book is fantasized, as you can see a clock in a fishbowl, swimmers with fins, and fish with swimsuits. But it all shows that swimming is a world of immense possibility.

“The fish all wake up at the same time, just when they’ve finished the 150-meter race. Even though it’s never a dream they want to wake up from, they aren’t sad. … It’s a dream that has been dreamed by fish since the world was the world and the sea was the sea, and it always will be.”

Another book, The Summer of Diving, tells the story of a girl named Zoe. Her father had been missing for many years. “A long time passes before I find out where he’s gone. Maybe everyone else has known all along.” Says Zoe. It turns out that Zoe’s father was at a mental hospital and suffering from severe depression and had gone there to get help. Zoe was confused by everything. She didn’t understand why the doors were locked, why there were “angels” who watch over her father, and why her father always seemed so sad.

At the hospital, she meets a woman called Sabina, who offers to swim with her. But there is neither any pool nor sea, so how can they do it? That is when the characters must use their imagination. For many seasons, Zoe and Sabina “swim” together. Sometimes in a patch of grass or diving off a park bench.

Sabina sometimes acts like her father. She will dive deep down, and Zoe will have to wait for her to come back up. “She dives into another world. I wait until she comes back.” Zoe asks Sabina if her father will come back, too. “How would I know that? I’m not psychic, am I?”

“When my dad finally comes, Sabina and I have swum around the world a few times,” Zoe tells us. “My dad is like the trees. In the winter he pretends to be dead. Then he is reborn in the summer.” The child-like explanation gives us insight on how small kids grasp things like mental illnesses.

The last book, a graphic novel called “Swim Team,”, was written by author Johnnie Christmas. The graphic novel is about a girl called Bree, a middle schooler who had to move from New York City to Florida, who has to cope with her own personal and school lives. Her single father had been almost unreliable after getting a full-time job. After discovering that the only elective still open at her school is swimming, she has to overcome her fear of water.

Etta, Bree’s elderly upstairs neighbor, a former swim champion, saves Bree from dreaming in their apartment complex pool. After, she began giving Bree swimming lessons. And that is just the beginning.

The book is supposed to reflect the inclusion non-whites face in the world of swimming. In the book, Etta’s story and hardships as a girl give Bree determination to keep swimming.

Christmas writes from his heart. He shared similar experiences with Bree, such as nearly drowning once. Questions of belonging, ability, racial justice and who is permitted to swim are all present in the story. The book really expresses those aspects of reality, and it is suitable for not only middle schoolers, the target age group. The book can be understood by adults as well.

Swimming is a form of art. And just like art, it has many ways to express itself.

Link:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/29/books/review/johnnie-christmas-swim-team.html