The Young Swimmer

Covers everything from basic swimming techniques and safety to racing tactics, providing easy-to-follow photographic sequences--many taken underwater--and straightforward advice as provided by a professional coach.

Grade 3-8?This series entry makes a satisfying splash for novice swimmers. Olympic champion Rouse provides the introduction; nine photogenic young swimmers model correct positions and proper form. These "live" visuals far surpass the black-and-white drawings found in many older titles. After a discussion of beginning skills and exercises, the author introduces basic strokes (crawl, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly) on double-page spreads. Written with competitive swimmers in mind, the book includes racing starts and turns, as well as a two-page look at synchronized swimming. Charles Carson's Make the Team (Sports Illustrated for Kids, 1991; o.p.) suffers in visual comparison but has more information about meets and diving. Jim Noble's Swimming (Watts, 1991; o.p.) is also good for this audience, while Donna Bailey's Swimming (Raintree/Steck-Vaughn, 1991) is for younger readers.?Marilyn Payne Phillips, University City Public Library, MO
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 3^-6. Using the publisher's trademark design elements, cut-out photographs of people and objects silhouetted against large white pages, this book introduces swimming to young readers. After a brief history and a few basic rules, this how-to guide illustrates such techniques such as floating, gliding, and breathing exercises. On a series of double-page spreads, the crawl, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, racing starts, racing turns, and synchronized swimming are demonstrated. Most of the text appears in the captions that accompany the many small photos of swimmers in action. Young swimmers should find the sequences of pictures helpful as they try to learn the arm, leg, head, and body motions for new strokes. Carolyn Phelan