Our relationship with swimming has inspired a wide range of books and short stories. Here, author of The Drownings Hazel Barkworth picks her favourites.
Swimming Studies by Leanne Shapton
A memoir of obsessive years as a competitive swimmer, and an exquisite meditation on the scars and desires they leave behind. Every detail is lingered over, immersing the reader in chlorine, pain and glory.
Barracuda by Christos Tsiolkas
Danny Kelly chases Olympic stardom. He fumbles his chance, and spirals. This novel explores Danny’s volatile relationship with the water. At its worst, the pool is bitter, harsh and toxic. At its best, swimming feels like flying.
- How to respect the environment when wild swimming
- Nick Cave on wild swimming, sons’ deaths and why a broken world can be beautiful at the same time
- These libraries and leisure centres faced disaster as councils cut services. Then volunteers stepped in
Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsui
A former competitive swimmer delves into the wildly varying meanings of swimming, from open-water challenges to introspective lengths. This book spans centuries and continents, exploring water’s power to seduce and destroy, and what it can mean for our bodies and minds.
Dryland by Sara Jaffe
Swimming, within this tender novel, functions as a means of establishing of identity, set against the backdrop of ’90s grunge. Julie Winter turns to the pool to seek the memory of her once-champion brother and to understand the shifting, hidden parts of herself.
The Swimmer by John Cheever from Collected Stories
In the lush ’60s suburbs, swimming pool after swimming pool becomes a mythological space, both confining and transformational. As Ned Merrill follows his whim to swim through his neighbourhood’s many pools, the water morphs from glinting turquoise to cold, troubling darkness.
