Loading...
26th out of 27 books
—
2 voters
My rating:
add to my books
Off the Deep End
Hodding Carter dreamed of being an Olympian as a kid. He worshipped Mark Spitz, swam his heart out, and just missed qualifying for the Olympic trials in swimming as a college senior. Although he didn't qualify for the 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, or 2004 Olympics, he never stopped believing he could make it. And despite past failures and the passage of time, C...more
Hardcover, 209 pages
Published
June 10th 2008
by Algonquin Books
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
64)
If you were caught up watching the triumphs in the Olympic pool by 15 to 41 year-olds, you’ll appreciate W. Hodding Carter’s chronicle of ‘the probably insane idea that I could swim my way through a midlife crisis– and qualify for the Olympics." In his forties, he decided to pick up the habit again and attempt to make the 2008 Olympic Team as a freestyle sprinter. Like Dara Torres, Carter realized that it is not inevitable that we lose our strength and ability as we age. However, Carter’s p...more
Fairly entertaining account of author's quest to qualify for olympic trials in swimming (2008) in his mid-40's. Somewhat jarring that the book ends before it's clear whether he's going to achieve the goal or not, but even though he hasn't hit the goal time yet he had improved a great deal, surpassed his times from when he was on the team at Kenyon College 20+ years earlier, and become the top-ranked guy in his age group in the country.
He's oddly disdainful of masters competition, ev...more
He's oddly disdainful of masters competition, ev...more
I found this autobiographical story to be so inspirational. At 42 Carter attempts to qualify for the Olympic trials for swimming. I don't swim but reading this made me want to learn. He made me laugh out loud! I found myself constantly reading bits and pieces to Chris because parts of his book were just too good not to share. Very well written. He can write about anything and I would read it because he makes everything so entertaining. Amazing!
I hoped this book would be inspiring. A middle aged guy looking to make the Olympic swimming team and do what he hadn't done when he was younger. The problem is, I didn't like Hodding Carter. It annoyed me that he pursued swimming to the detriment of everything else in his life - including his wife, his children, and his "job" as a freelance writer.
He got 2 stars because he really does write well. I kept wondering, "Why does he relentlessly reach for the swimming d...more
He got 2 stars because he really does write well. I kept wondering, "Why does he relentlessly reach for the swimming d...more
My dad summed this one up pretty accurately: "The author doesn't sound like a real nice guy, but it's a pretty good read." The author really does come across as a pretty self-centered jerk, but it was worth it just to hear the language of my childhood spent at swim meets. Short course, long course, dry land workouts, intervals, streamline... It's a light read, and a fun one if you can ignore the fact that this married guy is making crude passes at his friends' wives and calling it humo...more
I am a sucker for a swimmer book. Very different from Dara Torres. Fun, but not
Entirely about swimming more about midlife crisis.
Entirely about swimming more about midlife crisis.
This book was not very good. The author is obsessed with footnotes - it felt like one on each page almost. Some of the footnotes were half a page long and didn't really add to the story. The story has no real ending either.
There are some good parts. I'm glad it was a short book.
There are some good parts. I'm glad it was a short book.
Jeremy Peppas
added it
Quick, breezy read.
I wish I knew how it came out, the Olympics Trial quest, teh googles have failed me when I looked
I wish I knew how it came out, the Olympics Trial quest, teh googles have failed me when I looked
An ad or a review brought this book to my attention and since I've been swimming for exercise for about 13 years because of my sons' involvement with swimming, I thought this would be a good read. And it was even though I was astonished at how arrogant this man is! He was so clueless about what it took to be a successful swimmer in so many ways even though he competed during his college years. But I was satisfied with how his tale concluded and I would definitely suggest it to anyone who has eve...more
Heidi Hester
added it
This book is amazing! Absolutely loved the brutal honesty!
I laughed throughout this entire book. Carter bravely and honestly recounts his humbling experiences training for the Olympics at age 45. This is a great book about failure and dreaming big. I think this book will stick with me for awhile.
on a side note, he's from Greenville, MS in the delta where we lived for 5 years (one town over). We saw him speak at the YMCA in 2005 when he was beginning to train for the Olympics. (I'm pretty sure I remember him mentioning it at the time, but I...more
on a side note, he's from Greenville, MS in the delta where we lived for 5 years (one town over). We saw him speak at the YMCA in 2005 when he was beginning to train for the Olympics. (I'm pretty sure I remember him mentioning it at the time, but I...more
The author decides in mid-life to revisit his college swimming career and try to qualify for the Olympics. His writing is very funny, but this was not the inspirational read I expected. A short read but one that rambles a bit. I am not a swimmer and lost track of how many times he participated in trials.
Perhaps this book has most appeal for swimmers, such as myself. At age 43, Hodding decides that he's going to qualify for the Olympics. His training is sometimes haphazard, but his heart is always in the right place. Parts of the book made me laugh out loud.
We happen to know the author and his kids go to school with ours and he coached one of our sons on swim team. With that said, it was a fun read - he's quite self-depracating. It's also inspiring for a wanna be swimmer/athlete of any sort.
W. Hodding Carter decides, in mid-life, to revisit his college swimming career and try to qualify for the Beijing Olympics. This is the story of his training, adventures, successes and failures. Funny and inspiring in a misguided, quixotic way...
This was a very entertaining and enjoyable read that has inspired me to improve my own swimming and reinforced the idea that nothing is impossible if you work hard for it. The book caused me to both laugh and think.
In his mid forties the author decides to experience his mid-life crisis by re-entering the world of swimming and training for the Olympics. A very funny story of things he learns along the way.
Scott
rated it
Recommends it for:
athletes old and young who like to dream big
Recommended to Scott by:
saw it at the library
Shelves:
light-reading
A nice easy read about a guy trying to maintain passion and discipline to attain a larger goal in the midst of some chaos. The coolest part was 'swim-trekking' in the British Virgin Islands.
I read this because I knew the author and he lives in Maine. I was interested in his life. Can't say I found the book overly inspiring. Wouldn't have read it otherwise.
Pete Danko
is currently reading it
Marie
marked it as to-read
D
added it
Julie Elliott
marked it as to-read
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
