Warum wir schwimmen

A gem of a book, a hymn to water and our place within it. Our ancestors swam to survive. Today, we swim in Arctic waters and traverse wide channels because we enjoy the challenge. Swimming is a calm and meditative sport in chaotic times. Swimming is healthy, community-building, existential. Everyone should be able to do it. Whether it's a swim club in the former palace bath of Saddam Hussein, modern samurai swimmers in Japan, mandatory swimming lessons fully clothed in the Netherlands, an Icelandic fisherman whose physique resembles that of a seal, the first public swimming pools in Chicago and New York, or the Bajau sea nomads of Malaysia, whose children can dive up to 70 meters deep without needing to take a breath. With her engaging and informative portraits of global swimming culture, literary scholar and former competitive swimmer Bonnie Tsui takes us deep into the fascinating world of water, enriching us not only physically but also mentally and emotionally.