Victory in the Pool

How a Maverick Coach Upended Society and Led a Group of Young Swimmers to Olympic Glory

Bill George

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
• Year: 2023
• eBook ISBN:
  9781538173725
• Edition: 1

The ultimate underdog story of a swim coach who could not swim, a swim club that accepted minorities when others would not, and a group of young swimmers who became Olympic champions.

Before the United States was the swimming power it is today, a novice coach named Sherm Chavoor formed a swim club that accepted all swimmers—no matter their religion, race, or social status—and started a dynasty. Following Chavoor's intense and unorthodox coaching methods, his young swimmers quickly began dominating competitions across northern California—and then the world.

In Victory in the Pool: How a Maverick Coach Upended Society and Led a Group of Young Swimmers to Olympic Glory, Bill George tells the inspiring story of Sherm Chavoor and his dedicated athletes who rose from obscurity to win twenty Olympic gold medals during the 1960s and '70s. They triumphed in two of the most tumultuous and dangerous Olympic Games ever held, the 1968 Mexico City Games and the 1972 Munich Games marred by the terrorist attack that killed eleven Israeli athletes. Mark Spitz and Debbie Meyer were the two most prominent members of the team, but they were challenged every step of the way by teammates and fellow Olympians Sue Pedersen, Mike Burton, John Ferris, Jeff Float, and more.

Featuring exclusive interviews with the athletes and with Sherm Chavoor before he passed away, Victory in the Pool delivers an inside look at this unparalleled time in Olympic history. But more than that, it is the story of young people overcoming incredible odds—often in the face of insults and bigotry and under the intense glare of the spotlight—and coming out triumphant.

Table of contents

• Acknowledgments
• Foreword
• 1 A Place in the World
• 2 An Antiquated Mess
• 3 A Club to Fit His Vision
• 4 Show Me What You Can Do
• 5 Get a Good Look at Each Other
• 6 The Best Rivalry Going
• 7 Swimming for the Enemy
• 8 Pain and Agony
• 9 It Felt Real Easy
• 10 The Gauntlet
• 11 The American Girls Were Ready
• 12 Chalk One Up for the Tall Men
• 13 Everybody Had an Agenda
• 14 An Absence of Order
• 15 The Invincible Americans
• 16 “I Got Down on My Knees”
• 17 Beat ’Em, Murder ’Em
• 18 Indiana Calling
• 19 “Everybody’s Son”
• 20 The Goal of Any Athlete
• 21 The Friendly Bavarian Capital
• 22 Tact Is Overrated
• 23 “Our Greatest Hopes and Our Worst Fears”
• 24 “I Love You”
• 25 Dogfight
• Notes
• References
• About the Author