Shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2017. Part social history, part memoir, Swell shines a light on the ‘swimming suffragettes’.
Jenny Landreth is a script editor and writer. She has written two guide books – on the great trees of London, and on the best places to swim in the capital. Jenny was the main contributor to the Guardian’s weekly swimming blog, writing on everything from pool rules, to swimming with children, and where to swim in New York. She lives in London. @jennylandreth
blissful ... an instructive history of a tide not simply turning,
but being forced to turn
*The Times*
Jenny Landreth’s tale of the swimming suffragettes is a wonderful
account of lost stories from the canon of women’s sports history…
Landreth’s book brings these stories to the mainstream
*Anna Kessel*
Fascinating and full of possibility, it is also properly
snort-with-giggles-on-the-commute funny.
*Alexandra Heminsley*
If you love swimming you’ll love this. If you hate swimming, you’ll
still love this.
*Jo Brand*
A brilliantly funny book that made me feel part of a proud and
intrepid community of amphibian women
*Josie Long*
If this marvellous watery odyssey charting women’s swimming history
doesn’t make you want to jump in, I will eat my woollen bikini.
*Doon Mackichan*
A wry and inspiring mix of memoir and social history
*Melissa Harrison*
Very disappointed. I thought this was going to be a pictorial
history of the bikini.
*John O'Farrell*
This book will delight you.
*Daily Mail*
Swell has the air of one long stand-up routine, a larky dash
through the modern history of female swimmers
*New Statesman*
A clever, intimate history of personal and female liberation,
viewed through a well-fitting pair of swimming goggles...
*Kinamara.com*
Curl up with the empowering story of the heroines who made swimming
possible for women. ... a must-read
*Women's Fitness*
A lighthearted, conversational history, with emphasis on the
challenges women once faced just getting in the water, and the
“swimming suffragettes” who defied genteel disapproval to claim the
right to do so
*Guardian*
Swell interweaves Landreth’s own story with a history of female
pioneers, “Swimming Suffragettes” who accomplished remarkable feats
and paved the way for future generations.
*Economist*
With examples of swimming heroines and some truly bizarre swimming
cossies plus the story of how the author learned to swim, Swell
will make you want to plunge straight in
*Red*
Jenny Landreth is a wonderful and hilarious writer, so this is in
no way a stuffy account of historic events. She includes her own
history of swimming, the 2012 Olympics, the developments in
swimwear and, in her own unique way, the psychology behind why we
swim
*Wanderlust*
Accessible and down to earth, with wonderful asides
*The Times Literary Supplement*
Swell is a joyous, noisy, drum-beating celebration of swimming and
womanhood.
*The New European*
Thoroughly researched and informative, full of strong opinion and
sound judgement [with] spiky, mischievous writing that knits it all
together
*Sunday Times*
Swell is a wryly funny and seriously inspiring history of women and
swimming... she had me at 'waterbiography'
*The Pool*
Witty and illuminating book.
*Daily Telegraph*
It’s a pleasure to be immersed in this educative, entertaining
'waterbiography'.
*The Observer*
A celebration of liberation, and an essential read for any serious
swimmer.
*BBC Countryfile magazine*
you will never read a better explanation of why women swim (and
dare I say it, perhaps men too).
*Swimming Times*
Landreth guides us through the history of the fabulous swimming
pioneers and what she calls the swimming suffragettes, women who
smashed prejudice and enable us all to swim freely today.
*Guardian Review*
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