The Shelly Bay Ladies Swimming Circle

The Shelly Bay Ladies Swimming Circle
Author: Sophie Green
Publisher: Hachette Australia
Total Pages: 432
Release: 2019-07-23
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0733641172

It's 1982 in Australia. THE MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER is a box office hit and Paul Hogan is on the TV. In a seaside suburb, housewife Theresa takes up swimming. She wants to get fit; she also wants a few precious minutes to herself. So at sunrise each day she strikes out past the waves. From the same beach, the widowed Marie swims. With her husband gone, bathing is the one constant in her new life. After finding herself in a desperate situation, 25-year-old Leanne only has herself to rely on. She became a nurse to help others, even as she resists help herself. Elaine has recently moved from England. Far from home and without her adult sons, her closest friend is a gin bottle. In the waters of Shelly Bay, these four women find each other. They will survive bluebottle stings and heartbreak; they will laugh so hard they swallow water, and they will plunge their tears into the ocean's salt. They will find solace and companionship, and learn that love takes many forms. Most of all, they will cherish their friendship, each and every day. 'A tender, heartwarming read' New Idea 'An upbeat story about suburban life and female solidarity' Spectrum 'A delightful novel about the power of female friendship' Sunday Age 'Reading this book was like snuggling beneath a warm beach towel after a bracing dip in the ocean.' - JOANNA NELL Praise for Sophie Green's THE INAUGURAL MEETING OF THE FAIRVALE LADIES BOOK CLUB 'Tender, intimate, heartwarming, fulfilling and Australian as a lamb roast and full-bodied shiraz' The Australian Women's Weekly **Includes BONUS extract from Sophie Green's new novel, Thursdays at Orange Blossom House**

Fighting the Current

Fighting the Current
Author: Lisa Bier
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 222
Release: 2011-09-07
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 0786487267

In 1926, Gertrude Ederle became the first female to swim the English Channel--and broke the existing record time in doing so. Although today she is considered a pioneer in women's swimming, women were swimming competitively 50 years earlier. This historical book details the early period of women's competitive swimming in the United States, from its beginnings in the nineteenth century through Ederle's astonishing accomplishment. Women and girls faced many obstacles to safe swimming opportunities, including restrictive beliefs about physical abilities, access to safe and clean water, bathing suits that impeded movement and became heavy in water, and opposition from official sporting organizations. The stories of these early swimmers plainly show how far female athletes have come.

The Women's Pool

The Women's Pool
Author: Lynne Spender
Publisher:
Total Pages: 160
Release: 2021-11-23
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 9781925950458

The history of Coogee's McIver's Ladies Baths - Australia's only ocean pool reserved for women - is eloquently told in these stories from women who have found friendship, sanctuary and sheer pleasure as they have gathered and swum at 'the Women's Pool'. Humorously told tales of encounters at the pool sit together with stories of sorrow and regret. Older women tell of the history of the pool and the famed 'Thursday Married Ladies Club'; younger women detail their delight at the natural beauty, the safety and the sense of freedom that the pool offers. No aquatic manspreading here. In this book, women from a diverse range of cultures reveal the role that the women's pool has played in their lives. From the '365ers' who brave the elements all year round to the younger women who seek summer sun on the rocks, a picture emerges of a place of natural beauty and a space for women to simply be themselves. The ancient seasonal cycles find their own rhythm at our pool, at our place of 'women's business'. In the vastness of the largest Continent on Earth, it is a tiny space of companionship if wanted, or solitude if needed.--Mary Goslett

Swimming Pretty: The Untold Story of Women in Water

Swimming Pretty: The Untold Story of Women in Water
Author: Vicki Valosik
Publisher: Liveright Publishing
Total Pages: 334
Release: 2024-06-25
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1324093056

A groundbreaking history of how women found synchronicity—and power—in water. “If you’re not strong enough to swim fast, you’re probably not strong enough to swim ‘pretty,’?” said a young Esther Williams to theater impresario Billy Rose. Since the nineteenth century, tensions between beauty and strength, aesthetics and athleticism have both impeded and propelled the careers of female swimmers—none more so than synchronized swimmers, for whom Williams is often considered godmother. In this revelatory history, Vicki Valosik traces a century of aquatic performance, from vaudeville to the Olympic arena, and brings to life the colorful cast of characters whose “pretty swimming” not only laid the groundwork for an altogether new sport but forever changed women’s relationships with water. Williams, who became a Hollywood sensation for her splashy “aquamusicals,” was just one in a long, bedazzled line of swimmers who began their careers as athletes but found greater opportunity, and often social acceptance, in the world of show business. Early starlets like Lurline the Water Queen performed “scientific” swimming, a set of moves previously only practiced by men—including Benjamin Franklin—that focused on form and exhibited mastery in the water. Demonstrating their fancy feats in aquariums and water tanks rolled onto music hall stages, these women stunned Victorian audiences with their physical dexterity and defied society’s rigid expectations of what was proper and possible for their sex. Far more than bathing beauties, they ushered in sensible swimwear and influenced lifesaving and physical education programs, helping to drop national drowning rates and paving the way for new generations of female athletes. When a Chicago physical educator matched their aquatic movements to music in the 1920s, young girls flocked to take part in “synchronized swimming.” But despite overwhelming love from audiences and the Olympic ambitions of its practitioners, “synchro” was long perceived as little more than entertaining pageantry, and its athletes would face a battle against the current to earn a spot at the highest echelons of sport. Now, on the fortieth anniversary of synchronized swimming’s elevation to Olympic status, Swimming Pretty honors its incredible history of grit, glamor, and sheer athleticism.

I Found My Tribe

I Found My Tribe
Author: Ruth Fitzmaurice
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2018-03-06
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1635571588

A transformative, euphoric memoir about finding solace in the unexpected for readers of H is for Hawk, It’s Not Yet Dark, and When Breath Becomes Air. Ruth’s tribe are her lively children and her filmmaker and author husband Simon Fitzmaurice who has ALS and can only communicate with his eyes. Ruth’s other "tribe" are the friends who gather at the cove in Greystones, Co. Wicklow, and regularly throw themselves into the freezing cold water, just for kicks. The Tragic Wives’ Swimming Club, as they jokingly call themselves, meet to cope with the extreme challenges life puts in their way, not to mention the monster waves rolling over the horizon. Swimming is just one of the daily coping strategies as Ruth fights to preserve the strong but now silent connection with her husband. As she tells the story of their marriage, from diagnosis to their long-standing precarious situation, Ruth also charts her passion for swimming in the wild Irish Sea--culminating in a midnight swim under the full moon on her wedding anniversary. An invocation to all of us to love as hard as we can, and live even harder, I Found My Tribe is an urgent and uplifting letter to a husband, family, friends, the natural world, and the brightness of life.

The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club

The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club
Author: Faith Hogan
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 299
Release: 2021-05-06
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 180024133X

Three women. Three different stages of life. United by one thing: the chance to start again. An independent.ie '50 hottest summer reads of 2021' pick! 'Hogan presciently taps into the pursuit of these pandemic times' – RTÉ 'Charming... Full of pathos and humour. A heartwarming page-turner that would be perfect for staycation reading' – Irish Independent on Saturday 'Uplifting, emotional and brimming with warmth and humour' – Cathy Bramley When Elizabeth's husband dies, leaving her with crippling debt, the only person she can turn to is her friend, Jo. Soon Jo has called in her daughter, Lucy, to help save Elizabeth from bankruptcy. Leaving her old life behind, Lucy is determined to make the most of her fresh start. As life slowly begins to return to normal, these three women, thrown together by circumstance, become fast friends. But then Jo's world is turned upside down when she receives some shocking news. In search of solace, Jo and Elizabeth find themselves enjoying midnight dips in the freezing Irish Sea. Here they can laugh, cry and wash away all their fears. As well as conjure a fundraising plan for the local hospice that will bring the whole community together... From bestselling Irish writer Faith Hogan, The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club is an emotional story about finding new friends and living life to the fullest, that will appeal to fans of Sheila O'Flanagan, Heidi Swain and Liz Fenwick. Praise for Faith Hogan: 'Joyful, life-affirming and inspirational' – Heidi Swain 'Heartwarming and emotional' – Liz Fenwick 'A heart-rending, uplifting and beautifully written journey of female friendship... I loved being transported to Ireland's wild Atlantic coast' – Phillipa Ashley 'Faith Hogan navigates beautifully between the community and the individual, forensically investigating moral issues and loyalties with an unflinching, yet humane eye. She is one of the most original and exciting writers to emerge from Ireland in recent times' – Afric McGlinchey 'An intricately woven story of love, jealousy and misunderstanding' – Diney Costeloe 'A cracking good story... An ideal beach read' – Connaught Telegraph 'A fantastic summer read' – Irish Daily Star 'A heart-warming story of love, loss, family and friendship' – The Bookseller 'Spanning several decades and generations, Secrets We Keep is a hugely ambitious novel... With its engaging storyline and sense of place this is an absorbing and entertaining read' – Sunday Independent (Dublin)

At the Pond

At the Pond
Author: Margaret Drabble
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2019
Genre: Kenwood Ladies' Pond (London, England)
ISBN: 9781911547396

Combining personal reminiscence with reflections on the history of the place over the years and through the seasons, for the first time this collection brings together writers' impressions of the Pond.

Swimming Home

Swimming Home
Author: Mary-Rose MacColl
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 432
Release: 2017-06-20
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1101993502

From the author of the international bestseller In Falling Snow. In 1925, a young woman swimmer will defy the odds to swim the English Channel—a chance to make history. London 1925: Fifteen-year-old Catherine Quick longs to feel once more the warm waters of her home, to strike out into the ocean off the Torres Strait Islands in Australia and swim, as she’s done since she was a child. But now, orphaned and living with her aunt Louisa in London, Catherine feels that everything she values has been stripped away from her. Louisa, a London surgeon who fought boldly for equality for women, holds strict views on the behavior of her young niece. She wants Catherine to pursue an education, just as she herself did. Catherine is rebellious, and Louisa finds it difficult to block painful memories from her past. It takes the enigmatic American banker Manfred Lear Black to convince Louisa to bring Catherine to New York where Catherine can train to become the first woman to swim the English Channel. And finally, Louisa begins to listen to what her own heart tells her.