The Complete Book of Swimming

In reading some of the complaints about this book from other reviewers, I would like to add that not all swimming books are created equal. Some are clearly devoted to technique, drills, and fine-tuning every little aspect of your athletic performance, and there are plenty of these instruction-type manuals to choose from. I tend to seek out swim books that address ALL of the aspects of the sport, the way Dr. Whitten does in this book and also Harvey Weiner does in "Total Swimming." As a swimmer who has spent many years in the pool with large gaps in-between of not swimming, I know if I turn to a book like Dr. Whitten's, the motivation to jump back in will be easily available to me. Recently this has been the case; I returned to swimming after 10 years out of the pool, and the author's statement that his book will motivate you is certainly accurate. For those swimmers who want only to improve their performance, turn to the instruction-manual style swim books. And for all others, who don't mind some instruction/drills chapters but also like to explore the mind-body connection which occurs within the water experience, as well as learn about the health benefits research available to swimmers, there is Dr. Whitten's book. Enjoy!

This book is great for getting started. If your first thought is,"do I really wanna go all the way up to the pool, get in my swimming trunks and jump into the cold wet?", just open this book and you'll already be in the water. Dr. Whitten has so much enthusiasm for the sport, that he could probably even convince a cat to take up swimming. I bet there are better books for competitive swimmers, which have more complete work-outs or are more technical, but this book gives you a bit of everything and it also explains WHY you should take up swimming.

I really love this book. It's full of great motivational stories and excellently illustrated techniques. I have only two complaints. Whitten, like authors of most books on swimming that I've come across, doesn't address what to do when you've been out of the pool a long time and are struggling to get back. As someone who was very much afraid of the water until I took some excellent classes in my county, it's hard for me to get back into the pool after a long layoff. I really need to revisit basic breathing techniques and overcome some deep-seated fears. I also question some of the studies on body fat and swimming. Not that I question swimming's benefits, but all the studies Whitten quotes have been done on Master's swimmers, a sport that like cycling and running is somewhat self-selective. Most successful Master's swimmers are long, lean body types that move along quickly in the water. I wish someone would do body fat studies on the effects of swimming on the normal, non-athletic physique. Other than that, Whitten has written, in my opinion, an excellent book for most beginner and intermediate swimmers.

As a regular runner, I have often thought of using swimming as a great cross-training exercise but always hesitated because I am a weak, inexperienced swimmer. This book was a wonderful find to give tips on improving each stroke and has a wonderful set of workouts in the back for beginners to improve their skill level. I am now swimming a couple of times every week and consult this book regularly for ideas to improve and inspire.

a volume that preaches to the choir of masters (and would be) swimmers. discussions of benefits of swimming, weight loss, strokes, masters swimming & more. maybe the best starter book available for someone interested in getting started in swimming. not bed for those of us in it, but not as informative for stroke technique as other volumes. loses ponts on the one to ten scale due to lack of technical improvement information