THE THREE-YEAR SWIM CLUB The Untold Story of Maui's Sugar Ditch Kids and Their Quest for Olympic Glory

Narrator Alex Chadwick's lightly dramatic voice keeps listeners focused on a fascinating story. Soichi Sakamoto's Three-Year Swim Club in Maui hoped for glory in the 1940 Tokyo Olympics, a goal thwarted by WWII. Julie Checkoway dives into the past for accounts of swimming records, training innovations, and the swimmers themselves. These branches flow into a larger story of growing global tensions, Olympics history, and Japanese-Americans in Hawaii. It's occasionally poignant, as when a club member encounters a German P.O.W. he once met in competition. When the account turns to swim meets, Chadwick's voice sounds wonderfully like vintage radio coverage. There's athletic triumph, but the war's toll on those hopes hits home. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2016]