A Boy in the Water
Tom Gregory
Aug 2018 · Penguin UK
4.3star
3 reviewsreport
Ebook
192
Pages
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About this ebook
**Winner of the William Hill 2018 Sports Book of the Year Award**
A Sunday Times Book of the Year and Telegraph Best Book of 2018
'Extraordinary' Clare Balding
The poignant, life-affirming story of a determined boy, a visionary coach, and how the dream of a record-breaking Channel swim became reality
Eltham, South London. 1984: the hot fug of the swimming pool and the slow splashing of a boy learning to swim but not yet wanting to take his foot off the bottom. Fast-forward four years. Photographers and family wait on the shingle beach as a boy in a bright orange hat and grease-smeared goggles swims the last few metres from France to England. He has been in the water for twelve agonizing hours, encouraged at each stroke by his coach, John Bullet, who has become a second father.
This is the story of a remarkable friendship between a coach and a boy, and a love letter to the intensity and freedom of childhood.
A Sunday Times Book of the Year and Telegraph Best Book of 2018
'Extraordinary' Clare Balding
The poignant, life-affirming story of a determined boy, a visionary coach, and how the dream of a record-breaking Channel swim became reality
Eltham, South London. 1984: the hot fug of the swimming pool and the slow splashing of a boy learning to swim but not yet wanting to take his foot off the bottom. Fast-forward four years. Photographers and family wait on the shingle beach as a boy in a bright orange hat and grease-smeared goggles swims the last few metres from France to England. He has been in the water for twelve agonizing hours, encouraged at each stroke by his coach, John Bullet, who has become a second father.
This is the story of a remarkable friendship between a coach and a boy, and a love letter to the intensity and freedom of childhood.
Ratings and reviews
4.3
3 reviews
Andrew Coward
- Flag inappropriate
September 15, 2023
superb book. heartwarming and a lovely easy read
About the author
Tom Gregory grew up in Eltham, south-east London. He holds the record of being the youngest person to swim the English Channel, completing the crossing aged eleven in September 1988. (He still owns the Gold Blue Peter badge he received for the feat and the box tickets he was given to see Leyton Orient play at home.) Today, Tom Gregory lives in Surrey with his wife and two children. He takes his daughters swimming every weekend.
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