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NEUTRAL BUOYANCY

Name: NEUTRAL BUOYANCY
Author: Tim Ecott
ISBN: 0-87113-794-1

ADVENTURES IN A LIQUID WORLD

by Tim Ecott ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2001

As elemental, entertaining, and stimulating as the environments it traces. (photos, not seen)

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An enticing catalogue of undersea diving experiences, with extended side trips into the sport's history and culture, from BBC reporter Ecott.

As a sport, diving is a mere 50 years old, so there is still much to discover in the waterworld, and Ecott seems bent on doing his part to cover as much underwater territory as is feasible. In the baker's-dozen diving areas described here, Ecott displays a knack for conveying the particular atmosphere of each place, tropical or cool temperate water, daytime or night. There are dives off Ireland and in the haunted waters of the Bismarck Sea, where warships litter the seabed; he dives with dolphins off the Florida Keys, and watches the wild antics of deep free diving off Sardinia. Each dive is told as a story, with a level of personal disclosure to keep the tale alive but not foundering on the confessional. Equal of interest to Ecott to any undersea habitat is the history and culture of diving. Is it possible, he wonders, that Alexander the Great “visited the seabed in a glass barrel at the Siege of Tyre in 332 b.c.”? Maybe, though his tracking of the developments behind diving, bells, diving engines, and diving helmets is fully informed and fascinating. So too, and unexpectedly, is the world—biological, commercial, and mythopoeic—of sponges: know, for instance, that fresh sponges have the consistency of raw liver. Then there are the darker times he has witnessed, as when a woman underwent a panic attack and refused to budge from a compromised situation, nearly drowning in the process. Or his glimpse into the tortures of the bends, which is enough to keep readers—to this point increasingly rapt and ready to don scuba gear—from ever taking the plunge.

As elemental, entertaining, and stimulating as the environments it traces. (photos, not seen)

Pub Date: July 1, 2001

ISBN: 0-87113-794-1

Page Count: 368

Publisher: Atlantic Monthly

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2001

Categories:

SPORTS & RECREATION

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NORWICH

ONE TINY VERMONT TOWN’S SECRET TO HAPPINESS AND EXCELLENCE

by Karen Crouse ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 23, 2018

An inspiring story of a unique town.

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In her debut, a New York Times sportswriter explores why a small town in Vermont has become the “perfect incubator for developing the ideal Olympic athlete.”

Norwich has the distinction of being a town in which “one out of every 322 residents is an Olympian.” Crouse examines the story behind this remarkable record of athletic excellence, beginning with a profile of sisters Sunny and Betsy Snite. In the 1950s, their relentlessly competitive father pushed both girls to become ski champions. His “parent-driven medal-or-bust model” drove a permanent wedge between the sisters, made them unhappy, and kept both isolated from members of the Norwich community. The author then examines how more contemporary Norwich families have helped nurture well-adjusted champions. Nonjudgmental parental support allowed Mike Holland and Jeff Hastings to pursue their quirky, sometimes-dangerous passion of ski jumping in the 1970s and ’80s. An emphasis on becoming a well-rounded athlete able to play soccer and run track helped mogul skier Hannah Kearney keep a hypercompetitive drive in check while laying the foundation for the medals she won in 2010 and 2014. Growing up without expectations that he would ever be an athlete, Andrew Wheating was able to find a joy in running that led him to become a member of the U.S. Olympic track and field team in 2008 and 2012. Loving parents and a supportive community helped Winter X Games snowboard champion and Olympic team prospect Kevin Pearce move beyond the traumatic brain injury that ended his career. Crouse’s common-sense findings—that Norwich parents “praise effort, not results” and give their children “ownership of their lives”—all within a tightly knit community that values healthy living—are refreshing. Her book is a reminder that in an age that stresses winning at all costs, the true champions of the Olympic world are those who transition into lives as happy and productive adults.

An inspiring story of a unique town.

Pub Date: Jan. 23, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-5011-1989-7

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Oct. 22, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2017

Categories:

GENERAL CURRENT EVENTS & SOCIAL ISSUES | CURRENT EVENTS & SOCIAL ISSUES | SPORTS & RECREATION

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IN THESE GIRLS HOPE IS A MUSCLE

by Madeleine Blais ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 1995

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A close-up look at the championship season of a girls' high school basketball team that only the team's members and their families will find compelling. Adolescence is inherently hyperbolic, sportswriting is sometimes not far behind, and Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist Blais (The Heart Is an Instrument, 1992) nearly outdistances both as she applies the celebrity biography touch to a subject that is diminished by being so inflated. This is unfortunate, because the Lady Hurricanes of Amherst, Mass., seem a likeable lot who worked hard to capture the 199293 state championship. Co-captains Jamila Wideman (who received several honors, including selection by USA Today as a ``first team all-American'') and Jen Pariseau (who also earned the attention of college sports recruiters) are particularly noteworthy, and each girl makes her own contribution. When Blais discusses actual games, she captures some of the excitement these players must have felt, but she is more interested in the girls as people—even when she cannot make them interesting. Many potentially illuminating anecdotes are related in only a gossipy manner: Jamila starting life in a hospital preemie ward, Sophie King nearly losing a leg to gangrene, and Jen offering her version of ``life's little instructions.'' We hear about not only Coach Ron Moyer but also about his mother. Settling for adoration without insight, Blais asks no questions about the impact of these experiences on the girls' development or their futures; she doesn't ask whether the goal of girls' teams should be to imitate boys' teams, with their unquestioning emphasis on winning, whatever the cost; in short, she ignores the issues that could have made this more than an inflated version of the New York Times Magazine article on which it is based. There might be an insightful book to be written on the subject of girls' basketball, but this isn't it. (First printing of 35,000; author tour)