Originally published on Read Handed.

In this book, Lasha Boyko is a thirteen-year-old Canadian who is passionate about competitive swimming. When her club team gets a tough new coach, Lasha is pushed to physical, mental, and emotional limits. Coach Alexia thinks Lasha has the talent and drive to compete in the Olympics one day, but only if she redefines her idea of impossible and "breaks the pain barrier" in her training.

I used to swim competitively (from age 8 to 18), though certainly not at Lasha's level, and the book is very accurate. It should be, though, it's written by a former competitive swimmer. Coming from an American point of view, it was funny to read about the swimmers doing metres instead of yards. Because American high school swimming measures races in yards, many American club teams practice yards most of the year, too.

Swim to Win is an uplifting read for young swimmers, or kids interested in swimming competitively. ( )