I read “The Watermen” in preparation for a book club. I am glad it was chosen. It is biography, Olympic and sporting history with the suspense of a novel rolled into one.

Set early in the twentieth century, the central character is Charles Daniels, scion of a broken marriage who took on every challenge presented by swimming and Olympic authority and social convention. Daniel’s father abandoned the family and went on an extended white-collar crime spree. The stigma of divorce precluded Charles’ mother from the social life her family enjoyed. Charles was a driving force as American swimming was just coming into its own in a field dominated by Europeans.

Beginning in 1896, this narrative takes readers back to an age when swimming, both competitive and recreational, was, in America, virtually unknown. Though their names now mostly forgotten we read of the men who competed to establish reputations and set records.

Author Michael Loynd has woven several tales into one. Covering the Olympics from 1896-1908, Loynd chronicles a movement aborning and feeling its way on the path to the extravaganza it is now. It was an era in which the Olympics struggled to be accepted as a worthwhile competition. Athletes represented their clubs, not nations and gold medals were not awarded until the third modern games in St Louis in 1904. In contrast to contemporary pristine conditions, Daniels and his competitors trained in pools in which the only hygiene was to drain the water when it got too murky, swam through polluted lakes anf dealt with unpredictable starting signals in front of a populace that rarely cared.

Being a nascent sport, records were falling regularly and frequently contested. National rivalries, primarily between the United States and the British Empire, reflect the nationalism of the age. Much text is devoted to specific races, their significance, conditions and outcomes. If I see a weakness in this work, it is the detailed descriptions that tend to drown interest in minutiae.

Finally, there is the Daniels’ family tale of Charles, his parents, grandparents and, eventually, his wife. It is a saga of love and devotion, irresponsibility and deceit.

I will leave the descriptions at that so as not to leak any spoilers. I appreciate the author’s adherence to fact. Rather than imputing motives and actions, he carefully documented his assertions in his 23 pages of notes. I appreciate “The Watermen” on several levels, the history of the early Olympic movement, the inspiring saga of Daniels’ personal and athletic determination and achievement and the life stories that intersect on these pages. On a personal basis, the extensive St. Louis references are gratifying. Dive in and find your own heroes and villains in “The Watermen”. ( )