Swimming Pretty: The Untold Story of Women in Water

"With a history that harks back to the “diving girls” of the early 20th century, synchronized swimming has always been a curious mix of pageantry, grace and athleticism. In Swimming Pretty, Vicki Valosik takes a deep dive into the evolution of “artistic swimming” (as the sport was rebranded in 2017) and the larger story of women in water. I usually try to put my phone away while reading, but I broke my own rule several times over for this book. How could I not pause to pull up a video of a water-skiing Esther Williams being lifted from water to sky by a helicopter, or to marvel at the Chinese team’s gold-medal performance at the Paris Olympics?"