'Magnificent. Only a truly great story can hold my attention and Why We Swim had me nailed to the chair . I love this book.' Christopher McDougall, bestselling author of Born to Run 'A beautifully written love letter to water and a fascinating story. I was enchanted.' Rebecca Skloot, bestselling author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks From San Francisco Bay to the South China Sea by way of the Serpentine, swimmer and writer Bonnie Tsui dives into the deep to discover what it is about water that seduces us, heals us, brings us together and draws us in again and again. Our evolutionary ancestors swam for survival and now we swim in freezing Arctic waters, wide channels, and piranha-infested rivers just because they are there. Swimming is an introspective (and silent) sport in a chaotic age.

It is therapeutic for those who are injured and it is one route to that elusive, ecstatic state of Flow. Propelled by stories of polar swim champions, a Baghdad swim club, Olympian athletes, modern-day samurai swimmers and even an Icelandic fisherman who improbably survived a six-hour swim in the wintry Atlantic, Why We Swim takes us around the globe in a remarkable, all-encompassing account of the world of swimming.