Podcaster and columnist Ezra Klein explained why I love to read books written by open water swimmers, “Part of what is happening when you spend 7 hours reading a book, is you spend 7 hours with your mind on the topics in the book, grappling with them, drawing connections, having thoughts you would not otherwise have had. And so without that process of grappling, without those hours inside that book, it doesn’t get inside you. It doesn’t impress itself upon you. It doesn’t change you. What reading and writing and processing information is supposed to do is change you.”
I love learning about their challenges – both on dryland and in the open water. I love understanding what open water swimmers face and overcome, or not. Their insights are educational. Their solutions are clever. Their obstacles seem insurmountable and make mine seem so minor.
So much inspiration. So much wisdom. So little time to absorb it all.
Books by International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame Honorees
- James Anderson (USA): Hawaii Sports Calendar
- Antonio Argüelles (@arguelles7mares, Mexico): A cada brazada el azul interminable (With each stroke, the endless blue) with Nora Toledano Cadena (@noratoledanoswim), and Travesía Interminable (Endless Journey in English) with Adam Skolnick (@adamskolnick)
- Paul Asmuth (@paasmuth, USA): Marathon Swimming: The Sport of the Soul
- Ersin Aydin (Turkey): Yüzme (Swimming in English)
- Frederick Cavill (Great Britain): How to Learn to Swim
- Channel Swimming Association (Great Britain): Channel Swimming Handbook
- Sri Chinmoy (India): Sports and Meditation, The Wisdom of Sri Chinmoy, Yoga and the Spiritual Life, and 1,300+ other books, 120,000 poems, 9 plays, 20,000 songs
- Marcia Cleveland (@marciac944, USA): Dover Solo and Swimming the English Channel
- Lynne Cox (@lynnecox20, USA): Swimming to Antarctica: Tales of a Long-Distance Swimmer, Grayson, South with the Sun: Roald Amundsen, His Polar Explorations, and the Quest for Discovery, The Day the Whale Came, Open Water Swimming Manual: An Expert’s Survival Guide For Triathletes And Open Water Swimmers, Swimming in the Sink: An Episode of the Heart, and Tales of Al: The Water Rescue Dog
- Buck Dawson (USA): Mermaids on Parade: America’s Love Affair With Its First Women Swimmers, The Complete Book of Dry-land exercises for Swimming, Weissmuller to Spitz: An Era to Remember: The First 21 Years of The International Swimming Hall of Fame, Chikopi and Ak-O-Mak: The Story of the Matt Mann Sports and Wilderness Camps, Saga of the All American – The 82nd Airborne in World War II, A Civil War Artist at the Front, and When the Earth Explodes: Volcanoes and the Environment
- Penny Dean, EdD (USA): Open Water Swimming: A Complete Guide for Distance Swimmers and Triathletes, History of Catalina Swims, How To Swim A Marathon, and Just Try One More
- Commander Charles Gerald Forsberg OBE, RN (Great Britain): Modern Long Distance Swimming, Long Distance Swimming, Long Distance Swimming, and Strokes in Swimming
- Benjamin Franklin (USA): The Autobiography of Benjamin, Poor Richards Almanack, Fart Proudly, The Way of Wealth, The Art of Virtue, and Wit & Wisdom
- Joe Grossman (USA): A History of Marathon Swimming
- Tom Hetzel, PhD (USA): Conquest of the English Channel
- Yvetta Hlaváčová (@yvette_tulip, Czech Republic): Rebelka (Rebellious in English) and Odsouzená talentem: Pravda o životě světové rekordmanky v plavání
- Tim Johnson, DPS, PE (USA): History of Open-Water Marathon Swimming, Finding A Job In Tough Times, Performance Sailing on a J29, Stud of the Hudson: A Swim in Twenty Stages, and Introductory Digital Logic Labs: A Graphical Approach to Logic Design
- Jane Katz, PhD (USA): Your Water Workout: No-Impact Aerobics and Strength Training From Yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi and More and Swimming For Total Fitness
- Annette Kellerman (Australia): How to Swim, Physical Beauty: How to Keep It, Fairy Tales of the South Seas, My Story, and The Body Beautiful
- Régent Lacoursière (Canada); La Natation de Compétition, J’apprends à nager, Drown Proofing – Teaching Your Child to Swim, and L’Homme De L’Eau
- Thomas Lurz (@lurz.thomas) and Yasmin M. Fargel (Germany): Auf der Erfolgswelle schwimmen: Was junge Menschen wissen müssen, um erfolgreich zu werden (Float on the Wave of Success: What Young People Need to Know For Success)
- Attila Mányoki and Martin Schauhuber (Hungary) Oceans Seven: How I Cheated Death And Broke The Hardest Record In Swimming
- Mohamed Marouf, PhD (@swimmingprofessor, Egypt): Marathon Swimming Mind
- Yuko Matsuzaki (Japan): Marathon Swimming: My Fun Journey
- Linda McGill, MBE, OAM (Australia) Surviving the Sea of Life: The Triumphs and Tragedies of an Australian Olympian
- Steven Munatones (@steven.munatones, USA): Open Water Swimming, Science of Swimming Faster by Scott Riewald, PhD, and Scott Rodeo, MD
- Anna-Carin Nordin (@a.nordin, Sweden): Conquering the Straits
- Diana Nyad (@diananyad, USA): Find A Way, Other Shores, Diana Nyad’s Basic Training For Women, and Boss Of Me, The Keyshawn Johnson Story
- Dale Petranech (USA): A History of Marathon Swimming
- James Pittar (@james_pittar, Australia): Blind Vision
- Lewis Pugh, OIG (@lewis.pugh, Great Britain): Achieving the Impossible: A Fearless Leader, A Fragile Earth and 21 Yaks and a Speedo: How to achieve your impossible
- Stephen Redmond (@stephenredmond, Ireland): Fastnet – The Final Challenge
- Des Renford, MBE, OAM (Australia): Nothing Great Is Easy
- Julie Ridge (USA): Take It to the Limit: Endurance: How to Build It into Everything You Do
- Sharon van Rouwendaal (@svrouwendaal, Netherlands): Sharon van Rouwendaal: bruut
- Charles “Red” Silva (USA), Manual of Lifesaving And Water Safety Instruction, Lifesaving and Water Safety Instruction, LIFESAVING AND WATER SAFETY TODAY For Students and Instructors, Lifesaving and Water Safety Today, Manual and Lesson Plans for Basic Swimming, Water Stunts,, Life Saving, Springboard Diving, Skin & Scuba Diving, Life Saving, Springboard Diving, Skin & Scuba Diving, and Lifesaving and Water Safety Today For Students and Instructors
- David Smith, PhD (USA): Healing Journey: The Odyssey of an Uncommon Athlete, Hug the Monster How to Embrace Your Fears and Live Your Dreams, and The East/West Exercise Book
- Vicko Šoljan (Yugoslavia): Stari Grad – European Centre of Long Distance Swimming
- Stève Stievenart (@steve_stievenart, France): Steve Le Phoque – Le destin exceptionnel d’un homme sauvé par la mer
- Dr. Chris Stockdale, MBE (Great Britain): Swimming with Hero
- Shelley Taylor-Smith (@shelleytaylorsmith) and Ian Cockerill (Australia): Dangerous When Wet: The Shelley Taylor-Smith Story
- Nora Toledano Cadena ((@noratoledanoswim, Mexico): A cada brazada el azul interminable (With Each Stroke, The Endless Blue) with Antonio Argüelles (@arguelles7mares)
- Montserrat Tresserras (Spain): Nadando El Estrecho, Sus Orígenes Y Su Historia (Swimming the Strait, Its Origin and History)
- Jacques Tuset (@jacquestuset, France) Libre comme l’eau
- Barry Watson (USA): The Hinsdale Swimming Program
- Captain Matthew Webb (Great Britain): The Art of Swimming
- Maarten van der Weijden (@maartenvanderweijden, Netherlands): Beter
- Johnny Weissmuller (USA): Swimming The American Crawl
- Conrad Wennerberg (USA): Wind, Waves and Sunburn: A Brief History of Marathon Swimming
- Monique Wildschut (@moniqueblokwildschut, Netherlands): Ontberingen van een marathonzwemster (Rigors of a marathon swimmer) and Hardships Of A Marathonswimmer
- Jabez Wolffe (USA): Textbook of Swimming, Swimming Short and Long Distances, Crawl Stroke and Diving, and Swimming, Short and Long Distances, Springboard Diving
- Joe Zemaitis (@joe.zemaitis, USA): Joe’s Rules
- Major Jason Zirganos (Greece): Πώς πέρασα τη Μάγχη (How I Spent The Channel in English)
“All these books and recollections give comprehensive insights and backstories into the background, experiences, and mindset of some of the greatest open water swimmers in history,” says Steven Munatones. “They provide a rich history of the sport and are welcomed additions to any library of those owned by people involved in the sport.”
© 2026 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
“to educate, enthuse, and entertain all those who venture beyond the shoreline“
World Open Water Swimming Federation, a human-powered project
New Open Water Swimming Educational and Motivational Course – register here