The 5 best swimming biographies from sporting heroes

Butterfly: From Refugee to Olympian

Butterfly is an inspiring story of survival, courage and determination. It’s a memoire of a young Syrian refugee who fled her native country to the Turkish coast aboard a small dinghy bound for Greece. When the small and overcrowded boat’s engine cut out, it began to sink. Yusra, her sister and two others took to the water, pushing the boat for three and a half hours in open water until they eventually landed on Lesbos, saving the lives of the passengers aboard. Yusra Mardini had a difficult start to life and this book details the hardship her family and other refugees faced during the civil war. It documents her passion and determination to become an elite athlete and why now she is a UN Goodwill Ambassador and one of Time Magazine’s thirty most influential teens of 2016.

This book is a top choice with 4.7/5.0 star rating.

The book has mixed reviews and scores 3.3/5.0

At the age of 14, she became the youngest person ever to have received an MBE after being honoured by the Queen in 2009. Ellie is a clearly inspiration to the Olympic and Paralympic stars of tomorrow and in 2008 she deservedly won the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award. The book is split into chapters covering different stages in her life and career, from her early life and learning to swim, through to the hard work of intense training to become a competitive swimmer, to eventual triumph in national and international events. Each chapter contains illustrations and captions that give a clear and readable picture of each successive period of her life.

This one gets a 4.0/5.0 star rating.

However, after a tweaking his technique, his next venture was in his sights — this time the bar was raised much higher. Would one man’s ambitions triumph over ocean, or fail in the attempt? This is the story of super-human strength and determination, how overcoming the fears in your mind can be one of the ultimate challenges. Adam talks of swimming alongside dolphins and sharks (search Adam Walker dolphins on Youtube to see the amazing videos) in arguably the toughest extreme sport on the planet. If you’re thinking on taking on your own challenge, swimming or not, then this book is for you — it’s truly inspirational. I became totally engrossed, almost addicted to this one.

This book gets the second highest rating of 4.6/5.0

The book gives you an insight into his hard work, determination and incredible passion for the sport of swimming. Phelps shares some remarkable anecdotes about family, his coach, his passion for the sport, and the wisdom that he has gained from unexpected challenges and obstacles. He talks of his personal life and the sacrifices made to reach his outstanding ambitions. The book is one of the most motivational books I’ve read; the things that this sportsman achieved during his swimming career are second to none. No Limits will inspire anyone to follow their passion straight to the finish line.

This one gets a well-deserved 4.2/5.0.

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