Swimming for My Life: A Memoir

(Hardback)

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In 1970s Cincinnati, Kims overwhelmed, financially stressed parents dragged her and her four younger siblings into swimmingstarting with a nearby motel poolas a way to keep them occupied and out of their way. When Kim was eleven, they began leaving the kids at home with a sitter while they traveled the Midwest, where they sold imported wooden ornaments from their motorhome. But when Kims six-year-old brother crashed his new Cheater Slick bike and the babysitter deserted the children, what started as an accident became a pattern: Mom and Dad leaving for weeks at a time and the kids wrestling with lifes emergencies on their own.

As Kim coped in the role of fill-in mother while dealing with the stresses of elite swimming, she struggled to shape her own life. She eventually found strength, competence and achievement through swimmingand became the second female swimmer to win a full ride to the University of Southern California, where she earned two national titles.

Swimming for My Life is a peek into the dark side of elite swimming as well as a tale of family bonds, reconciling with the past, and how it is possible to emerge from lifes toxic and lifesaving waters.

Reviews

Swimming for My Life gripped me from the first chapter. Kim Fairley has an important story to tell, and she tells it beautifully as well as accurately. I am impressed by her willingness to revisit her life choices, seeking to understand, not justify, her decisions. The struggles she faced in the pool barely compare to the challenges she faced out of the water, and the lessons she learned are important ones for all of us.
John Naber, Olympic swimming champion, broadcaster, and author of Awaken the Olympian Within

Swimming for My Life is a memoir of a childhood riddled with events most would never speak of. Fairleys pure, raw honesty keeps you wanting to read, page after page, as she starts to question whether she is living her dream or someone elses.
Dara Torres, twelve-time Olympic medalist in Swimming and author of Gold Medal Fitness and Age is Just a Number

. . .a must-read for all parents who every day leave their children in the care of others.
Donna de Varona, Olympic Gold medalist, author, broadcaster, and member of the Executive Board of the USOPC

Kim Fairley has drawn a poignant and vivid portrait of how her eating disorder developed in the perfect storm: neglectful,demandingparenting and the harsh, grueling, pressured atmosphere of competitive swimming. This compelling book will make you squirm, pray,and applaud Kims resilience.
Judith Rusklay Rabinor, PhD, consultant for The Renfrew Center Foundation and authorof The Girl in the Red Boots: Making Peace with My Mother

Thank goodness there is a writer like Kim Fairley who has the skills, talent, and heart to bring us into the world of ultra-competitive sports for children. Pulled along by her propulsive writing style, with an eye for emotionally evocative details, you experience her plight. . . . Five stars and highest praise for this page-turning book, I couldnt put it down!
Lindsay C. Gibson, PsyD, author of Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parentsand Recovering from Emotionally Immature Parents

Author Bio

Kim Fairley writes about her wacky family and how life can be filled with countless unexpected surprises, illuminating joys, and sorrowful heartbreaks. She also writes about healing from deep loss and her experience as a competitive swimmer during the early years of Title IX. She grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, attended the University of Southern California, and holds an MFA in Mixed Media from the University of Michigan. Kim lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.