Pooling Talent: Swimming's Greatest Teams

This volume covers everything a reader might want to know about the great swim teams since the modern Olympics started, in 1896. The emphasis here is on Olympic swim teams but also includes other events as well. Author De George does a good job of presenting the historical context surrounding these events, such as the East German women's swim team doping scandals in the 1960s and '70s, as well as in depth descriptions of each person's individual contributions to swim-team events. Each chapter describes the history of a particular team, important races, and key swimmers. This is an excellent introduction to the sport of team swimming for interested teens and adults alike.
Pooling Talent: Swimming's Greatest Teams, by sports writer and author Matthew De George, examines relay teams, national squads, and top developmental programs and how these three levels of swimming impact the athletes involved. This highly readable book, part of Rowman & Littlefield's Swimming Series, can be used as a reference or read from cover to cover. Part one, Relays, has individual chapters on several winning teams, including the 1976 U.S. women's freestyle team, the 2000 Australian freestyle team, the 2004 U.S. men's medley team, the 2004 South African men's 400 freestyle team, and the 2012 French men's 400 freestyle team. The team stories are told within the context of Olympic history, national and international relationships, Cold War tensions, performance-enhancing drug use, and more. Part two focuses on different national squads and serves as a history of swimming development over the course of the twentieth century, starting with the 1925 U.S. Olympic swimmers, and discussing such teams and events as the 1950's Hungarian women's Olympians, the 1968 U.S. Olympians, the 1973 East German Women's World Championships, the 1976 men's Olympians, the 1980 U.S. Olympians (thwarted by the U.S. boycott of the games that year), the 1992 Unified Olympians, and the 2001 Australian World Championships. Part three focuses on the successful developmental programs that have produced some of the sport's leading talent, including the Stanford University women under the guidance of Coach Richard Quick, the 1930's Japanese men's team, and the Mission Viejo Nadadores.