Book Description
In Breakthrough Swimming, legendary swimming coach and historian Cecil Colwin describes how competitive swimmers of the modern era—such as swimming giants Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett—apply innovative training methods and stroke techniques to set new standards of performance.
All four strokes as well as starts and turns are presented in thorough detail in Colwin's easy-to-grasp instructional style. Not only will you gain a greater understanding of competitive swimming through its origins and evolution, but you'll also learn these skills:
• Improve stroke technique, starts, and turns.
• Develop a better training program and understand the principles of training.
• Apply the latest research in hydrodynamics and the propulsive mechanisms of speed swimming to create ultimate speed through the water.
• Coach the “feel” of the water to help swimmers detect and manipulate the water flow with ever-increasing dexterity.
Internationally acclaimed sport physiologist Dr. David Pyne, recipient of the Australian Sports Medal for his work with that country's Olympic swimming team, contributed a special chapter to the book. Pyne covers all phases of modern training, from physiological testing and monitoring to race preparation and post competition analysis.
The engaging book also offers an inside look at how the sport has evolved, especially in recent years, with the advent of professional swimming and the growing specter of performance-enhancing drugs. Combining the latest technical innovations with a revealing historical context, Breakthrough Swimming is the definitive work on the past, present, and future of competitive swimming.
Customer Reviews:
Outstanding, Amazing.......2003-04-11
I am one of those swimmers Mr Colwin talks about; natural, skilled, elite. Call it what you will, I swim easily and fast. Fast enough to win the Olympics (Tokyo, 1964, 400 IM)
This book is astounding in its breadth and depth of knowledge. If you are at all serious about swimming for speed or enjoyment you need to read this work. The first and second chapters on stroke development and recent breakthroughs would be enough to make this book a classic,
The fluid dynamics section is excellent, a good thing to know in your mind. But far more valuable to me is the chapter about feeling the water. Here we dive into the heart of the matter. The more talented swimmers feel the water more. You can swim most efficiently when you can tell when the water is most ready to pull against. I stand in awe of Colvin's ability to explain an intuitive process that leaves me blubbering for words.
All of us who love the water owe Cecil Colwin a deep and sincere thank you.
An Essential Swimming Book.......2002-10-18
In "Breakthrough Swimming", Cecil Colwin has done a fantastic job in bringing together the thoughts, techniques and advice of many famous and successful coaches and their swimmers from all over the world. Of particular interest are the changes in techniques over the years and the preparation of today's star swimmers. Also of great interest was the comparison and use of scientific principles in assisting in streamlining the body and optimising the use of energy and strength to gain more speed.
As a past competitive swimmer, this book is a "must" for anyone with an interest in this great sport. It is a book where you need to have your own copy so you can read and re-read it from time to time as well as use it as a reference guide.
A real "winner" from Cecil Colwin !
History, Hydrodynamics and Training.......2002-10-18
The average swimming book prescribes stroke techniques, then offers a sample training routine. In 'Breakthrough Swimming', Cecil Colwin sets his stroke and training advice amid much firm background and some speculative discussion. Coach Colwin covers three subjects: History, Hydrodynamics and Training.
The history is broken into two parts which begin and end the book. The first is a history of swim technique (sidestroke, trudgen, overarm, etc.) which leads to a description of the four current strokes. As in Swimming Dynamics, he illustrates a "typical" way of swimming each stroke even though he admits a wide range of technique possibilities. (Colwin is an excellent draughtsman, but there seems to be a drawing error: In the text and in his side view drawings of the crawl, he describes a full body rotation of 35 - 45 degrees each way as desirable. His front view, however, shows the swimmer almost dead flat throughout the crawl.)
Continuing the exploration of hydrodynamics that he began in Swimming Dynamics, Colwin discusses the bow wave, lift, his vortex-shedding theories of propulsion, strategies of streamlining, using the hands to direct the water and many other ideas.
In covering training, Colwin (and Pyne) offer the usual ideas of aerobic vs anaerobic, interval vs distance, etc. I find myself thinking of his section, "Development of the Will to Overcome Fatigue," as I swim. I realize that I have rarely reached Hurt, much less Agony or Pain since high school (at least not in the pool).
The book ends with a history of competition that discusses rule changes, better pools, the World Cup tour (he's not impressed), national team vs club-based coaching, a chronicle of doping, fistgloves, the problems with bodysuits, a ranking of the stars of the 20th century and a look forward.
I definitely found the book worth reading.
An absolute "must" for past and present swimmers ........2002-10-07
This is a really wonderful book with an in-depth insight into the latest techniques and training methods, encompassing a collection of successful techniques from numerous very famous coaches from all over the world. Some of the most fascinating aspects of this book are the application of modern day scientific principles to make swimmers go faster and become more streamlined and effective in the water. Not only is this an excellent read, but it is a book to be kept and re-read from time to time by anyone interested in swimming. As a former competitive swimmer, this is certainly the best ever book I have read on a great sport. You definitely need your own copy !
An A-Z for swimmers and coaches at all levels........2002-06-19
This book is a must for all coaches and swimmers.
After having read through the book, it dawned on me that much of the information included in the pages contains facts that I have had to learn through numerous years of being coached, training and competing.
Even though there are numerous things that we only learn when we are actually faced with them personally, this book will help expedite the learning curve for swimmers and coaches at all levels as well as give coaches some insight into some of the fundamentals of our highly intense sport.
A big thank you to Cecil Colwin for not only an enjoyable read, but for a starter, main-course as well as dessert - all in one book.
Book Description
The O'Malleys are a close-knit clan of seven men and women who have held together against all obstacles by depending on one another. They have each successfully taken on the challenge of a high-risk profession, heroically dealing with life-and-death situations every day. But when cancer strikes their sister Jennifer, can the family survive a crisis that threatens one of their own? The Negotiator , Book 1 FBI Agent Dave Richman never intended to fall in love with Kate O'Malley. As a hostage negotiator, Kate is willing to walk into any situation to save lives. When an airliner explodes, Kate is faced with the shocking evidence that the bomber may be someone she knows. And Dave is about to discover that loving a hostage negotiator is one thing, but protecting her is another matter entirely. The Guardian, Book 2 A federal judge has been murdered. There is only one witness, and someone wants her dead. U.S. Marshal Marcus O'Malley has been the guardian of the O'Malley family for twenty years. Now he'll have to risk everything to protect a woman being hunted by an elusive assassin. Marcus thought he knew the risks of the assignment going in...until he fell in love. The Truth Seeker, Book 3 Women are turning up dead. And when forensic pathologist Lisa O'Malley digs into the crimes, trouble is soon to follow. U.S. Marshal Quinn Diamond needs Lisa's help with an investigation, but he never planned to put her in danger. Where their cases intersect is a killer who will stop at nothing to see his secret remain buried.
Customer Reviews:
Dee Henderson is an gifted writer.......2007-01-09
I love all of Dee Henderson's books, but the O'Malley series stands out as my favorite, probably because they were the first books I read that were written by her. She is a gifted storyteller who obviously loves the Lord. I love characters that have qualities that are heroic, but also are still human. "Danger in the Shadows" is the prequel to this series and it is also a really good book. I am looking forward to reading everything that Ms. Henderson writes and wish her many happy years writing in the future!
This book was awesome!.......2006-10-10
Dee Henderson always writes the best books. These three books will really touch you in the characters struggles and triumphs. If you dont already own these books you should go out and by them. They are absolutely some of the best i have ever read.
O'Malley Chronicles, Volume 1.......2005-09-09
I love Dee Henderson and all the books in the O'Malley Series. I love the Chronicles because it made it easy for me to read all the books. I would definitely recommend these three books to everyone.
O'Mally Chronicles Book 1.......2005-08-04
There a three books in this one and it follows the lives of 7 adults who adopted one another as a family. The stories are easy to follow and it brings you in to what their jobs are. This book follows 3 of the O'Malley's but all seven are in each one. But the main charater is the most important. The are all searching for something and by the end the all find what the are looking for Christ.
Intriguing Reading!.......2005-07-07
You will want the whole series so you can go from one book to the next! I loved getting a glimpse of characters from the previous book as the story continues through the series. I appreciate that Dee keeps her characters real. They often have doubts and fears and ask God "why" just as we all do!The stories are suspenseful and wrap you up in the lives of the people portayed.
I often found my own thoughts and feelings expressed..my own questions asked..and occasionally ANSWERED! Great author..great series!
Product Description
Set of 2 Books. O'Malley Chronicles Omnibus Volumes 1-2 By Dee Henderson.
Customer Reviews:
Fleshing out characters........2007-09-02
I enjoyed this book, the way it added depth to the characters in the tale of Ring of Fire. There are people whose character means they can be called upon at any time to help build depth to a story.
Does Not Add Much to the Franchise.......2007-08-15
This collection of stories from the RING OF FIRE franchise does not add too much value to the franchise. It is a collection of shorts plus a couple of "fact" articles set in the 163n framework. They hold together just fine as far as fitting into the framework but they are not all that entertaining in their own rights. That is a problem.
Often enough, the stories read well, they just don't come to any sort of a satisfying conclusion. One is left with the feeling, "so what?" This is true for the little known authors as well as for Eric Flint, the originator. They are not awful, they just are not all that good.
Even so, the series interests me enough that I will continue to buy and read it. I just hope for something better next time.
Excellent Read.......2007-05-11
For those of you that have read any amount of the 1632 series, this book is a must have. The perspectives from Non-Canon characters, introduces one once again a new world that runs parallel, but not neccessarily equal with the main story-lines.
It's not up to snuff........2007-04-02
When you write an anthology you can get really variable work. When you have amateur writers, even with a good editor, the variableness is especially noticable. As such, most of the stories in this collection were bland and uninteresting. Even Flint's failed to grab the reader, and for all the ballyhoo of a Flint story in the collection, it reads like he quickly whipped out 6 pages so as to increase sales.
The only moderately interesting story was a novella on the development of a medical school and cultural differences between Germany and Grantville. But the author doesn't take any real risks in the storyline- it had potential for real ingenuity but the safe route is taken instead. And the story revolves around a protagonist getting an ulcer because of stress. Have the authors never read that we no longer think that ulcers come from stress?? We know they come from a bacterial infection now- and this was well known even before Grantville transported to the past. This could have been an opportunity at least for the Germans to teach the Grantvillians a thing or two. But nothing is mentioned, and the story really falls apart after relying on severely outdated science.
More from the Ring of Fire.......2007-01-10
The collections of short pieces by both experienced and unknown writers that Jim Baen and Eric Flint have associated with the "Ring of Fire" series is one of the cleverest moves by a publisher in a long time. They let us see in more detail events and actions that might not have been foregrounded in the main book, but whose expansion or portrayal enhances the overall universe of the book.
This second collection is as strong if not stronger than the first, and well worth adding to your collection.
Average customer rating:
- Essential Miscellany to "1632"
|
Grantville Gazette II
Manufacturer: MELIA PUBLISHING SER
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GNT4S0 |
Customer Reviews:
Essential Miscellany to "1632".......2006-10-19
Grantville Gazette II follows the unusual format introduced in GG (I): short story and novela fictions that explain or will impact the big picture of the novels in the same "world of 1632" series. And following them with several factual articles laying out narrow technical details of the "1632" world that is faced by modern West Virginia townfolk who were suddenly transported back four centuries to Germany in the middle of the Thirty Years War. The series is now also called the "Ring of Fire" after the manner in which these "up-timers" arrived in "down-time" Germany. "Assiti Shards" is somehow connected to it, but has no present meaning.
The longest story here is about the reform of medical education in Germany as it existed in the 17th century. A fierce academic struggle ensues to meld it with modern "miraculous" knowledge that has, unfortunately but predictably, run out of its modern supplies and lacks the industry to easily replace them. While clearly off the "main line" of the grand political confrontations presented in the novels set in the "1632" world, a story like this illustrates the great value of the GG anthologies. Inclusion of such details would clearly bog down the already big novels, far beyond the many necessary asides on historical matters they already contain. Yet these short stories answer the very questions that are asked by fascinated readers of the series. In fact, the articles, and stories, are submitted by readers online, and edited to conform with and advance the overall saga. The series is an intellectual adventure in Alternate History, full of yes, how would I have done that, moments. The stories are also fun when recognizable European "real" people of those distant times pop up, like Galileo or Cromwell.
Although not excessively militarized, these stories often have the prose of military fiction: can-do, go-get-em, optimistically cynical, capsulized, declarative prose. Nothing wasted on evocative description, ambiance, atmosphere, flawed characters, or fancy words. Nor are they in the least amateurish, strongly edited by Eric Flint, who has become the choreographer of the series.
I would expect more anxiety and desperation in these stories, and the series. Surely there was constant danger around these "colonists" from another time. Humor is laced through the stories, okay, but the characters also seem little worried by the harsh forces around them. Maybe short stories cannot be expected always to acknowledge those wider problems, but the later novels also lack this element of suspense. The uptime Americans and their allies don't seem to lose even the little schemes or conflicts. The enemies are obviously "bad," often over the top evil, while the good guys cleverly triangulate the fundamental forces, but of course are never sneaky. They are suitable paragons for teenage readers. All the good W. Va. union men who lead Grantville act like they only manipulate situations and never busted a head. One never has the sense of grit, dread or awe one finds in Bernard Cornwell's books of continental conflict.
In GG factual articles are presented in a more or less accessible style. Allthough they can be skipped by those interested only in the "action," at no loss to understanding the action, they provide a depth of research that the authors of the fiction observe and that enlarges the novels in particular. For example, there is a wonderful discussion of the obstacles the up-timers will have finding their essential modern ores and minerals in medieval Germany. That article reviews the new geological setting of Grantville, and what its inhabitants could potentially find to sustain the industries necessary to withstanding and overcoming many hostile political and economic forces. "Wonderful" at least to natural scientists among the readers. However, it becomes clear that the manpower, skills and knowledge needed will have to involve the recruitment of native local people if the 3500 Americans have any hope of surviving and flourishing, and then bringing democracy and wealth to millions in Europe. These considerations will constrain how and when characters will make guns, bullets, containers, ships, and railroad steel, and why we won't see metal aeroplanes any time soon--even if these ground facts are not explicitly written in to future stories. I hope in future the GG will present some actual short biographies of the leading historical down-timers. Of course authors wouldn't want to give away what might be coming up in future stories (although those must increasingly vear from the historical record, mustn't they, now that up-timers have contaminated "our" history).
Amazon.com
Why should all Americans -not just Christians and Jews -- care about the Ten Commandments? Chris Hedges, a former foreign correspondent for the New York Times and Harvard Divinity School graduate, believes that the commandments keep us from committing evil. They hold our communities together. "They lead us to love, the essence of life," he writes.
Adapted from his series of articles for the New York Times comes these thoughtful essays on why we need these ancient laws -- and what happens when we abandon them. A Phish band groupie provides a springboard for a discussion of idolatry. A Long Island whiskey bar becomes a laboratory for understanding "You shall not bear false witness." Honoring the Sabbath, he shows through the observances of one busy family, may be the antidote to popular culture. The story of the havoc wreaked on one child's life vividly illustrates the reason for the commandment, "You shall not commit adultery." Throughout his essays, he deftly weaves his own experiences into the narrative, as well as references from Fyodor Dostoyevsky's classic book on good and evil, The Brothers Karamazov.
Hedges believes that the commandments hold out to us the possibility of love -- and love means living for others. The commandments are guideposts that bring us back to the right path, he writes. They call us to sacrifice. Compellingly, he urges us to abandon the culture of self; to live "not by exalting our life but by being willing to lose it." --Cindy Crosby
Book Description
In Losing Moses on the Freeway, Chris Hedges, veteran war correspondent and author of the bestselling War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, delivers an impassioned, eloquent call to heed the wisdom of the 10 Commandments. Celebrated for his courageous reporting on the crucial issues of our time, Hedges, who graduated from seminary at Harvard Divinity School, explores the challenge of living according to these moral precepts we have tried to follow, often unsuccessfully, for the past 6,000 years. The commandments, he writes, do not save us from evil. Instead they save us from committing evil.
Inspired by unyielding faith, rigorous moral scrutiny, and a fierce sense of social responsibility, Hedges offers a breathtaking meditation on modern life. Losing Moses on the Freeway illustrates how the commandments usually choose us -- and how we are rarely able to choose them. We cannot protect ourselves from theft, greed, adultery, or envy, nor from the impulses that lead us to commit evil acts. In honoring the commandments, we free ourselves from self-worship and are called back to the healing solidarity of community. It is in the self-sacrifice championed by the commandments that integrity, commitment, and, finally, love are made possible.
Download Description
"The 10 Commandments -- the laws given to Moses by God -- are beyond the scope of human law. They are rules meant to hold us together but, when dishonored, they lead to discord and violence. In this fierce, articulate narrative, Hedges, who graduated from seminary at Harvard Divinity School, looks through the lens of each commandment to examine the moral ruin of American society. With urgency and passion, he challenges readers to take a hard look at the disconnect between their supposed values and the shallow, self-absorbed lives many people actually lead. Taking examples from his personal life and twenty years of reporting, Hedges explores one commandment at a time, each through a particular social group. With each story, he reveals the universal nature of personal suffering, discovery, and redemption -- and explores the laws that we have tried to follow, often unsuccessfully, for the past 6,000 years. "
Customer Reviews:
Inspirational.......2007-05-02
Chris Hedges breathes new life into the Ten Commandments. Devoting a chapter to each commandment, he relates them to modern life in a highly provocative manner outside the context of religion. Each chapter is a short story in itself, usually with him as the protagonist, imbuing them with a memoir-like quality except for an overabundance of musing, which is where his real power lies. He speaks with great passion from a keen intellect hewn from experience and religious scholarship.
The Family: Honor your father and your mother, was my most favorite chapter recounting a speech he delivered in May 2003 to the graduating class of Rockford College. It was a time when the majority of Americans still supported the Iraq War, when most believed in its mission, shortly after a media blitz with President Bush pictured standing on an aircraft carrier claiming victory behind a banner that read "Mission Accomplished" (incidentally, today is its fourth-year anniversary). Chris Hedges inflamed many that day with caustic words highly critical of the wisdom behind our invasion of Iraq, accurately predicting a future that has become reality.
I admire this man and I won't be satisfied until I've read all of his books.
My faith in a loving God is restored.......2007-03-12
Chris, your books have given me words to express my frustration with the way some people understand God. I am renewed by knowing that the God I love is not the God so often portrayed by those who want to control us through a misguided interpretation of His word in the bible. It also gives me new strength to love and tolerate those who are misguided, and to understand and forgive myself when I have not been loving and compassionate. Thank you for this wonderful book.
Losing Moses on the Freeway.......2007-03-08
It is a very stimulating read. It makes you take a look at the Ten Commandments from a different perspective. If you have become complacent or take your faith to routinely, a must read to get you fired up again about what you believe.
ancient wisdom renewed.......2007-01-18
I suspect that for many people in our post-modern culture, the 10 Commandments evoke thoughts of moralizing television evangelists, perhaps disbelief that anyone would devote themselves to such archaic strictures, or, more commonly, sheer ignorance. In any case, that would be to our great peril, argues Chris Hedges, author of War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning (2002).
Hedges brings a remarkable life story and degree of passion to his story-telling about these most famous Ten Words--mystery, idols, lying, sabbath, family, murder, adultery, theft, envy, greed and, in an epilogue, love. As a pastor's kid, he grew up in rural upstate New York, where his father was a Presbyterian pastor. Five years at an elite boarding school, the loneliness of his childhood, left him with "a deep hostility to authority and a visceral distaste for the snobbery of the 'well-born.'" Six days after graduating from Colgate University he began a two year stint as a pastor in the violent ghetto of Roxbury in metro Boston, an experience so unsettling that it provoked him to leave the church and seminary. After a year in South America he completed his divinity degree at Harvard, though not without caustic opinions about liberal professors who romanticized the poor whom they had never met, and the lectures which he experienced as "intellectual shell games." In a prescient understatement his father remarked to him that he was "ordained to write," and so he did, as an award-winning war correspondent in some 50 countries over 20 years.
Hedges has not written an exegetical or even theological treatise about the 10 Commandments, but rather existential reflections on them rooted in first person life experiences. He is at his best as an unvarnished prophet who unmasks the idolatries we so readily worship--the state, nation, especially in its glorification of war and legitimation (even sacralization) of violence, race, religion, ethnicity, gender, and class. At a graduation speech that he delivered at Rockford College in May 2003 the audience booed him from the stage for his critical remarks about the Iraq war. Such is the prophet's welcome. His chapter on murder recounts the tortured conscience of an Episcopal priest who estimates that he killed 300 people as a soldier in the Vietnam War. For theft he explores the breadth and depth of corporate greed through the experience of R. Foster Winans, a writer for the Wall Street Journal.
All of us struggle for moral integrity and personal authenticity, and Hedges by no means excludes himself. "The darkness I discovered in Roxbury was my darkness." No one is immune from corrosive impulses. But to flaunt the moral grammar of the universe is to court spiritual, emotional and psychological death. Hedges has experienced enough to know when and how that happens, whether in a bar in Sarajevo or a gleaming skyscraper office in Manhattan. The commandments save us from false covenants and idols that promise so much and deliver so little. In honoring the commandments, we honor the sanctity of life, the power of love, and their function to bind us together in life-affirming community.
Read this book........2006-11-04
No matter what your religious background, you should read this book. It has influenced my thinking about ethics and morality more than any book in my recent memory. And if you are a person of faith, it is required reading.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Commonweal, published by Thomson Gale on December 2, 2005. The length of the article is 1034 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Christmas Critics.(God's Secret Agents: Queen Elizabeth's Forbidden Priests and the Hatching of the Gunpowder Plot)(Losing Moses on the Freeway)(Book Review)
Author: Clare Asquith
Publication:
Commonweal (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 2, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 132
Issue: 21
Page: 39(2)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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