Swimming for My Life

A Memoir

By: Kim Fairley

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Paperback | 11 October 2022

At a Glance

Paperback
352 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
21.6 x 14.1 x 2.8

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In 1970s Cincinnati, Kim’s overwhelmed, financially stressed parents dragged her and her four younger siblings into swimming—starting with a nearby motel pool—as a way to keep them occupied and out of their way. When Kim was eleven, they began leaving the kids at home with a sitter while they traveled the Midwest, where they sold imported wooden ornaments from their motorhome. But when Kim’s six-year-old brother crashed his new Cheater Slick bike and the babysitter deserted the children, what started as an accident became a pattern: Mom and Dad leaving for weeks at a time and the kids wrestling with life’s emergencies on their own.

As Kim coped in the role of fill-in mother while dealing with the stresses of elite swimming, she struggled to shape her own life. She eventually found strength, competence and achievement through swimming—and became the second female swimmer to win a full ride to the University of Southern California, where she earned two national titles.

Swimming for My Life is a peek into the dark side of elite swimming as well as a tale of family bonds, reconciling with the past, and how it is possible to emerge from life’s toxic and lifesaving waters.

Industry Reviews

"Swimming for My Life gripped me from the first chapter. Kim Fairley has an important story to tell, and she tells it beautifully as well as accurately. I am impressed by her willingness to revisit her life choices, seeking to understand, not justify, her decisions. The struggles she faced in the pool barely compare to the challenges she faced out of the water, and the lessons she learned are important ones for all of us."

--John Naber, Olympic swimming champion, broadcaster, and author of Awaken the Olympian Within

"Swimming for My Life is a memoir of a childhood riddled with events most would never speak of. Fairley's pure, raw honesty keeps you wanting to read, page after page, as she starts to question whether she is living her dream or someone else's."

--Dara Torres, twelve-time Olympic medalist in Swimming and author of Gold Medal Fitness and Age is Just a Number

". . . a must-read for all parents who every day leave their children in the care of others."

--Donna de Varona, Olympic Gold medalist, author, broadcaster, and member of the Executive Board of the USOPC

"Kim Fairley has drawn a poignant and vivid portrait of how her eating disorder developed in the perfect storm: neglectful, demanding parenting and the harsh, grueling, pressured atmosphere of competitive swimming. This compelling book will make you squirm, pray, and applaud Kim's resilience."

--Judith Rusklay Rabinor, PhD, consultant for The Renfrew Center Foundation and author of The Girl in the Red Boots: Making Peace with My Mother

"Thank goodness there is a writer like Kim Fairley who has the skills, talent, and heart to bring us into the world of ultra-competitive sports for children. Pulled along by her propulsive writing style, with an eye for emotionally evocative details, you experience her plight. . . . Five stars and highest praise for this page-turning book, I couldn't put it down!"

--Lindsay C. Gibson, PsyD, author of Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents and Recovering from Emotionally Immature Parents

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