Customer Reviews

Overachiever's Diary: How the Army Triathlon Team Became World Contenders

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2 star:		(1)
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It's a fun book to read -- all the emails from him to the team. If you're a swimmer you need to read this. It's all about the basics as well as race strategies. The basics work for pool or open water swimming. The strategy is for tri swimming. He's obviously got a great rapport with the team. He's got a great sense of humor, and he's able to really reach out and grab them emotionally before big events. There are hundreds of pics. Also, the interesting twist is that he's gay, he's out, he's coaching at West Point, and nobody cares that he's gay. It's a very interesting dynamic. This is not your usual boring swimming book -- or triathlon book for that matter. It's worth the 15 bucks.

The positives:

1, Louis Tharp appears to be an exceptionally gifted coach, writer and has a unique ability to describe and emphasize the concepts of Total Immersion. He is personable, funny, convincing and reading the book does not feel like a list of e-mails, but more of a list of "on-deck discussions". He is engaging and you truly would want to have someone like him as your coach and guide. I really loved his chapters, although a little more structure, sense of skill progression, and...well, a little more would have made this book so much better.

2, The concept is great: an e-mail/diary with tons of pictures that has the intimacy and laid back feel of a friendly advice on improvement. It has the look of a yearbook, playful and easy-going. Although, here is a possible problem: one can not make the book too specific to any particular year or team without the risk of losing the emphasis on the general concepts. The entries have a discussion, then a training practice plan.

The negatives:

1, The title: Who is the "overachiever"? There is the Army Triathlon Team, but who is achieving what over what inherent skill, genuine lack of talent or limitation? Was it the stroke, the recovery, the balance? What improved? What was overcome to overachieve? What made the difference? There are all these pictures throughout in the book, but who was really a team member and when? There is no description, introduction to any of the team members, so it leaves the expected intimacy of a diary missing. "How the army triathlon team became world contenders?" Page 213 lists 87th, 121st, 154th, 209th, 139th of overall position for respective members. I am not dismissing these as valuable results, but this does not list their swimming leg results that this whole book was supposed to address. It was a book about the swimming, right? "Diary"? There is no year listed, so we don't know if the Month and Day of the entries belongs to the year of the above mentioned race result (World Championship 2007) or not.

2, With all respect to Laurie Ferguson, PhD, whose motivational chapters appear in the book (about 15% of the volume), the value of her contribution to both the possible improvement of the reader and the team appears limited. It is hard to imagine that a multisport athlete struggles with focus, motivation and drive, requiring outside assurance and guidance.

3, It is annoying to read a book that refers to websites and links for further explanation. Even if you go to these websites, how do you find the description of the "stone skipper" drill, for example? A book should be more complete of its own.

4, Unless you are familiar with the concepts of the Total Immersion, you will be lost reading "zipper-skate", "underswitch". Some terms are never explained like "90 second rule". A short, condensed summary would have gone a long way.

Lou Tharp is an amazing man -- and he's written a marvelous book. It doesn't fit in any particular category -- it's a swimming book, a motivational book, a memoir, a gay book, and much more. If you're interested in any aspect of the human condition -- improving one's body, fitting in to society, figuring out what makes us tick -- you'll find something of interest here. Actually, you'll find plenty of interest. You'll even find yourself interested in things you didn't know you could be interested in!

Take it from this lifetime swimmer, longtime coach and triathlete: Coach Tharp is a pioneer! He articulates thoughtful and successful technique and training strategies sure to influence coaches and swimmers alike. The US Army recognizes his obvious talent and passion for coaching swimming and triathlon that transcends sexual preference! Perhaps these trickles of tolerance will inspire a new paradigm of acceptance in the US military and beyond! Read this book!

Robert Watson is head coach of Maximum Propulsion and City Coach in New York City

MaximumPropulsion.com and Citycoach.org

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