The Three-Year Swim Club : The Untold Story of Maui's Sugar Ditch Kids and Their Quest for Olympic Glory by Julie Checkoway download EPUB, DOC
9781455536276 English 145553627X "For readers of "Unbroken "and "The Boys in the Boat" the inspirational, untold story of impoverished children who transformed themselves into world-class swimmers." In 1937, a Maui schoolteacher challenged a group of poverty-stricken sugar plantation kids to swim upstream against the current of their circumstance. The goal? To compete at the 1940 Olympic Games. They faced seemingly insurmountable obstacles. They were Japanese-American. They started out malnourished and they swam in an irrigation ditch. They were destined for lives of virtual slavery, like their parents' in the fields. But in spite of everything, including the virulent anti-Japanese sentiment of the late 1930's, in their first year they outraced Olympians; in their second, they became national and international champs, making headlines from LA to London. In their third year, they aimed for gold, meeting their greatest challenge of all--and going on to become the most unlikely American heroes of the 20th century. "They were The Three-Year Swim Club. This is their story. ", For readers of Laura Hillenbrand and The Boys in the Boat: The inspirational story of a group of impoverished children who were transformed into champion swimmers. In 1937 an ordinary grammar school teacher on the island of Maui took a group of underprivileged children mostly of Japanese ancestry and, in three short years, transformed them into Olympic champions. He called his plan the "Three-Year Swim Club." None of the barefoot children had ever laid eyes on a pool; their only experience in water was playing naked in the filthy irrigation ditches that snaked down from the mountains and into the sugar cane fields. And the coach knew nothing about coaching and couldn't swim a lap to save his life. But, against all odds, and during a period of US history marked by virulent racism against a backdrop of a second global war, the boys embarked on an unlikely path that that led them to become celebrated swimmers and real-life American heroes., For readers of Unbroken and The Boys in the Boat : the inspirational, untold story of impoverished children who transformed themselves into world-class swimmers. In 1937, a Maui schoolteacher challenged a group of poverty-stricken sugar plantation kids to swim upstream against the current of their circumstance. The goal? To compete at the 1940 Olympic Games. They faced seemingly insurmountable obstacles. They were Japanese-American. They started out malnourished and they swam in an irrigation ditch. They were destined for lives of virtual slavery, like their parents' in the fields. But in spite of everything, including the virulent anti-Japanese sentiment of the late 1930's, in their first year they outraced Olympians; in their second, they became national and international champs, making headlines from LA to London. In their third year, they aimed for gold, meeting their greatest challenge of all--and going on to become the most unlikely American heroes of the 20th century. They were The Three-Year Swim Club. This is their story., For readers of Unbroken" and "The Boys in the Boat" comes the inspirational, untold story of impoverished children who transformed themselves into world-class swimmers." In 1937, a schoolteacher on the island of Maui challenged a group of poverty-stricken sugar plantation kids to swim upstream against the current of their circumstance. The goal? To become Olympians. They faced seemingly insurmountable obstacles. The children were Japanese-American, were malnourished and barefoot and had no pool; they trained in the filthy irrigation ditches that snaked down from the mountains into the sugarcane fields. Their future was in those same fields, working alongside their parents in virtual slavery, known not by their names but by numbered tags that hung around their necks. Their teacher, Soichi Sakamoto, was an ordinary man whose swimming ability didn't extend much beyond treading water. In spite of everything, including the virulent anti-Japanese sentiment of the late 1930s, in their first year the children outraced Olympic athletes twice their size; in their second year, they were national and international champs, shattering American and world records and making headlines from L.A. to Nazi Germany. In their third year, they'd be declared the greatest swimmers in the world, but they'd also face their greatest obstacle: the dawning of a world war and the cancellation of the Games. Still, on the battlefield, they'd become the 20th century's most celebrated heroes, and in 1948, they'd have one last chance for Olympic glory. "They were the Three-Year Swim Club. This is their story."
9781455536276 English 145553627X "For readers of "Unbroken "and "The Boys in the Boat" the inspirational, untold story of impoverished children who transformed themselves into world-class swimmers." In 1937, a Maui schoolteacher challenged a group of poverty-stricken sugar plantation kids to swim upstream against the current of their circumstance. The goal? To compete at the 1940 Olympic Games. They faced seemingly insurmountable obstacles. They were Japanese-American. They started out malnourished and they swam in an irrigation ditch. They were destined for lives of virtual slavery, like their parents' in the fields. But in spite of everything, including the virulent anti-Japanese sentiment of the late 1930's, in their first year they outraced Olympians; in their second, they became national and international champs, making headlines from LA to London. In their third year, they aimed for gold, meeting their greatest challenge of all--and going on to become the most unlikely American heroes of the 20th century. "They were The Three-Year Swim Club. This is their story. ", For readers of Laura Hillenbrand and The Boys in the Boat: The inspirational story of a group of impoverished children who were transformed into champion swimmers. In 1937 an ordinary grammar school teacher on the island of Maui took a group of underprivileged children mostly of Japanese ancestry and, in three short years, transformed them into Olympic champions. He called his plan the "Three-Year Swim Club." None of the barefoot children had ever laid eyes on a pool; their only experience in water was playing naked in the filthy irrigation ditches that snaked down from the mountains and into the sugar cane fields. And the coach knew nothing about coaching and couldn't swim a lap to save his life. But, against all odds, and during a period of US history marked by virulent racism against a backdrop of a second global war, the boys embarked on an unlikely path that that led them to become celebrated swimmers and real-life American heroes., For readers of Unbroken and The Boys in the Boat : the inspirational, untold story of impoverished children who transformed themselves into world-class swimmers. In 1937, a Maui schoolteacher challenged a group of poverty-stricken sugar plantation kids to swim upstream against the current of their circumstance. The goal? To compete at the 1940 Olympic Games. They faced seemingly insurmountable obstacles. They were Japanese-American. They started out malnourished and they swam in an irrigation ditch. They were destined for lives of virtual slavery, like their parents' in the fields. But in spite of everything, including the virulent anti-Japanese sentiment of the late 1930's, in their first year they outraced Olympians; in their second, they became national and international champs, making headlines from LA to London. In their third year, they aimed for gold, meeting their greatest challenge of all--and going on to become the most unlikely American heroes of the 20th century. They were The Three-Year Swim Club. This is their story., For readers of Unbroken" and "The Boys in the Boat" comes the inspirational, untold story of impoverished children who transformed themselves into world-class swimmers." In 1937, a schoolteacher on the island of Maui challenged a group of poverty-stricken sugar plantation kids to swim upstream against the current of their circumstance. The goal? To become Olympians. They faced seemingly insurmountable obstacles. The children were Japanese-American, were malnourished and barefoot and had no pool; they trained in the filthy irrigation ditches that snaked down from the mountains into the sugarcane fields. Their future was in those same fields, working alongside their parents in virtual slavery, known not by their names but by numbered tags that hung around their necks. Their teacher, Soichi Sakamoto, was an ordinary man whose swimming ability didn't extend much beyond treading water. In spite of everything, including the virulent anti-Japanese sentiment of the late 1930s, in their first year the children outraced Olympic athletes twice their size; in their second year, they were national and international champs, shattering American and world records and making headlines from L.A. to Nazi Germany. In their third year, they'd be declared the greatest swimmers in the world, but they'd also face their greatest obstacle: the dawning of a world war and the cancellation of the Games. Still, on the battlefield, they'd become the 20th century's most celebrated heroes, and in 1948, they'd have one last chance for Olympic glory. "They were the Three-Year Swim Club. This is their story."