VICKI VALOSIK at Books Inc. Alameda

Meet Vicki Valosik at Books Inc. Alameda sharing her new book: Swimming Pretty: The Untold Story of Women in Water!

A groundbreaking history of how women found synchronicity—and power—in water.

Since the nineteenth century, tensions between beauty and strength, aesthetics and athleticism have both impeded and propelled the careers of female swimmers—none more so than synchronised swimmers. In this deeply researched history, Vicki Valosik traces a century of aquatic performance for the first time, from Victorian variety theatre and carnival shows to the 1984 elevation of synchronised swimming to Olympic status. Writing in eloquent prose, Valosik shows how early starlets like Lurline the Water Queen and Annette Kellerman boldly challenged restrictive codes set for women in water; more than just bathing beauties, they influenced lifesaving and physical-education programmes, dropped drowning rates and paved the way for new generations of female swimming athletes. Brimming with reverence and mesmerising detail, Swimming Pretty finally foregrounds an essential sport.

"[An] enlightening, well-researched history . . . As [Valosik's] book reveals in fascinating detail, although women’s access to the water has been mired for centuries in gender politics . . . women have transformed swimming for everyone in fundamental ways." -Sarah L. Kaufman / Wall Street Journal

"Journalist Vicki Valosik, herself a master synchronized swimmer, knows that the sport involves more than waterproof makeup and spangled costumes. Her new book, “Swimming Pretty: The Untold Story of Women in Water,” traces the history of the sport with the precision and grace of an Esther Williams tableau . . . As the 2024 Games begin next month in Paris, “Swimming Pretty” can be a great primer on a spectacular, strenuous sport." -The Los Angeles Times

"[A] fascinating book… [Valosik] compellingly conveys how difficult it is to stay underwa­ter for minutes at a time, to kick in concert with seven other potent pairs of legs, to propel one’s body high out of the water—in full makeup and with a dazzling smile." -Lucy Moore / Literary Review

"[Valosik] give[s] an exhaustive history of swimming pretty without exhausting you. Her writing is lively and takes you right into each moment, then sends you off to tell everyone else about how tough this beautiful sport is – even if trying it sounds like a very tall order." -Isabel Hardman / The Spectator
Vicki Valosik is a writer, a masters synchronized swimmer, and an editorial director and writing instructor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service! Vicki's writing has appeared in national publications, such as The Atlantic, Smithsonian Magazine, Slate, American Scholar, US News & World Report, Huffington Post, Washington Post Magazine, and Philadelphia Inquirer.

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