The Three-Year Swim Club: The Untold Story of Maui's Sugar Ditch Kids and Their Quest for Olympic Glory

by Julie Checkoway

Overview

The New York Times bestselling inspirational story of impoverished children who transformed themselves into world-class swimmers.

In 1937, a schoolteacher on the island of Maui challenged a group of poverty-stricken sugar plantation kids to swim upstream against the current of their circumstance. The goal? To become Olympians.

They faced seemingly insurmountable obstacles. The children were Japanese-American and were malnourished and barefoot. They had no pool; they trained in the filthy irrigation ditches that snaked down from the mountains into the sugarcane fields. Their future was in those same fields, working alongside their parents in virtual slavery, known not by their names but by numbered tags that hung around their necks. Their teacher, Soichi Sakamoto, was an ordinary man whose swimming ability didn't extend much beyond treading water.

In spite of everything, including the virulent anti-Japanese sentiment of the late 1930s, in their first year the children outraced Olympic athletes twice their size; in their second year, they were national and international champs, shattering American and world records and making headlines from L.A. to Nazi Germany. In their third year, they'd be declared the greatest swimmers in the world. But they'd also face their greatest obstacle: the dawning of a world war and the cancellation of the Games. Still, on the battlefield, they'd become the 20th century's most celebrated heroes, and in 1948, they'd have one last chance for Olympic glory.

They were the Three-Year Swim Club. This is their story.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781455523450
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	06/21/2016
Pages:	448
Sales rank:	150,026
Product dimensions:	5.12(w) x 8.00(h) x 1.12(d)
Lexile:	1260L (what's this?)

About the Author

Julie Checkoway is an author and documentary filmmaker. A graduate of Harvard, the Iowa Writers Workshop, and the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars, she is also the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts individual artist grant and a Yaddo fellowship. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Salt Lake Tribune, and Huffington Post.

Table of Contents

Preface 1

Part 1 Such Stuff us Dreams (1932-1937)

Chapter 1 To Race with Giants 7

Chapter 2 Hardhead 23

Chapter 3 A Wide Awakening 40

Chapter 4 The Pursuit of Greater Ventures 55

Part 2 On Such a Sea (1938)

Chapter 5 An Exercise of Will 83

Chapter 6 Owing to the Protracted Hostilities 102

Chapter 7 Keeping 1940 in Mind All the Time 120

Part 3 Taken at the Flood (1939)

Chapter 8 Down Under 147

Chapter 9 Youths of the Sea 167

Chapter 10 The Coup 187

Part 4 A Tide in the Affairs of Men (1940-1941)

Chapter 11 A Season of Flame 205

Chapter 12 Santa Barbara 215

Chapter 13 Mr. Smith Comes to Maui 222

Chapter 14 Blitzkrieg 239

Part 5 Fall Seven Times, Get Up Eight (Nana korobi, ya oki) (1944-1948)

Chapter 15 Go for Broke 265

Chapter 16 Home Front 284

Chapter 17 Detroit, Redux (1948) 307

Chapter 18 Goals and Sacrifices 325

Afterword 347

Author's Notes 353

Section Notes 359

Three-Year Swim Club Members 389

Mahalo Nui Loa/Thank You 393

Reading Group Guide 405

Index 419

About the Author 431

Interviews

On Writing as Dating

I believe that stories and their writers have a way of finding each other; it's as if in the world they're part of some kind of enormous "dating" pool — a veritable literary match.com, and that finding the right "partner" is a matter of time, fate, circumstance, and — I have discovered — making good choices.

Writers and stories don't marry. They just date for a long time. And they get engaged. Writers and stories are essentially serial monogamists: after a mutually beneficial relationship, they break up — amicably or not — and move on to the next one.

I've had satisfying "friends with benefits" hook-ups with a number of "pieces," public radio stories I've written or produced, newspaper and magazine articles. And I've also fallen in decent love a couple of times, most notably, with two long-form projects - - a memoir about Chinese women, for example; a book of essays on teaching writing.

I've also been cursed, however — and scarred — by one pretty messy affair from which it took me a long time to recover. The project was a documentary film, (it's called Waiting for Hockney) and however positive the outcome was for the audience — people liked it, the film got great reviews in both the U.S. and the U.K., and it premiered at Tribeca and was broadcast on the Sundance channel and lots of other places, too, I was mostly a wreck during it. My relationship with the film was a torrid "affair." It involved, for example, among other things, bitter disagreements about money — and money is the death knell about any relationship.

Indeed, the bell tolled for me and my film, and when it did, I lost tons of weight and sleep, I was depressed, I was mostly broke, and I was entirely disheartened, frankly, about morality and potential of the human race. When I finally got better and the lights came back on, I began to think of "dating" again, but this time I had a whole new approach.

I decided that I needed to change the way that I would engage in narrative relationships from then on. No longer would I see myself as a passive participant in the process of finding a "mate." No longer would I see writing/story relationships as inevitable or passive. In other words, after an ugly breakup, it I knew both that it was going to take a heck of a lot of "dating" (i.e., spending a lot of time with a story), before I'd allow myself to jump into something new, let alone allow myself to become "engaged," with it. And I knew for the first time that I had agency in choosing who or what to spend (part of) my life with.

I sat down and literally made a list of the qualities I was looking for in a future story/"mate." It goes without saying that the first criterion was about money. I wasn't going to engage with any story that would get me in trouble. The second requirement was that the story had to be pleasant enough for me to want to spend time with it for half a decade; I wasn't expecting perfection nor did I have a Pollyanna-ish view of what was possible, but I knew that the good had to outweigh the bad on a daily basis. To that end, the third thing for which I was looking was subject matter about something of significant historical importance; I'd come to the conclusion that it was a waste of my time to be engaged with projects that had nothing much to say about the world at large. And not only that, the fifth and final requirement was that the people in the story had to have made a positive difference in the lives of others and to have set a good example for future generations. A tall order — I know.

My agent and I batted around a couple of projects. For a while she set me up on "dates" with a story about a woman who lived in a rural town in a basement apartment and who singlehandedly and without authority monitored the online activities of and brought to justice members of Al Qaeda. Then I find another potential mate in a story about a group of antiquities thieves in the American southwest and a group of FBI and BLM agents who'd sought long and hard to bring them to justice. But neither story was a "keeper." The woman in the basement had some unexpected legal problems I decided I didn't want to take on, and the antiquity thieves were mean and had guns.

When I finally "met" the story of The Three-Year Swim Club, to my delight, one encounter after another was positive, enjoyable. The story met all of my "dating" criteria (see above); we were emotionally compatible; and the more time we spent together, the more and more I found myself falling truly and deeply in love.

What wasn't to love? The story is about a ragtag group of Japanese-American kids who, in 1937, on the island of Maui, band together, and with the inspiration of an intrepid teacher and coach, vow to make it to the Olympics in 1940. The odds are completely against the kids. The individuals were endearing and sympathetic, and in the end, the group achieved the improbable and even went on to change the course of history.

I spent five years happily involved with The Three-Year Swim Club. I loved the research the most — delving deeply into the soul of the thing and knowing it as intimately as I could — and I enjoyed the writing part, too, although it harder for me and sometimes getting the sentences and sections right and thinking about the audience, it felt a little bit like the pressure of taking your newly beloved beau home to meet your parents: you hope, in other words, everybody's going to be reasonably well dressed and also on their best behavior.

When people have ask me what project I plan to take on next, I admit to both appearing to be and being largely shocked and appalled. I know in my heart that some day I'll have to move on — all writers have to accept that — but in the meantime, I'm so madly in love with all the goodness that is The Three-Year Swim Club that I'm going to keep shouting its name from the mountaintops for as long as people will let me. —Julie Checkoway

Editorial Reviews

"A brightly told story of the triumph of underdogs... exuberant, well-researched...tense, vivid, and inspiring."—Kirkus Reviews

"If the basis for the book doesn't sound amazing enough, how the story unfolds—Japan vying for the Olympic games, Pearl Harbor being bombed, WWII changing the world forever—allows the story and characters to evolve in uplifting and heartbreaking ways...it is evident that Checkoway's ability to set a scene is uncanny and accomplished...Depicting determination, discrimination, hope, anguish, hard work, and hard choices, Checkoway has created a sports history that is singular in its own right, and a fitting testament to the over 200 youths who swam for many reasons toward one goal: 'Olympics First! Olympics Always.'"—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Remarkable real-life account...about as underdog as it gets."—Boston Globe

"An inspiring true tale of grit and determination... Checkoway skillfully weaves vivid scenes into a larger narrative with a varied cast of characters to create a stirring, though exhaustive, account ...Pair this with The Boys in the Boat."—Booklist

"This story of one (at first) seemingly unremarkable man and his effect on camp children and the world of swimming is both inconceivable and dazzling. You won't want to miss it."—Book Reporter

"This captivating nonfiction, featuring engaging individuals and portraying a tumultuous time in history, chronicles Hawaii's second golden age of swimming. Sports and history enthusiasts will enjoy this title as much as book clubs and general readers."—Library Journal

"Checkoway carefully weaves together facts into a sweeping historical tapestry."—The Salt Lake Tribune

"Checkoway's story of youthful perseverance will earn a place on the shelf with The Boys in the Boat."—The National Book Review

"Save the story she has, through exhaustive research and sparkling prose."—BookPage

"[A] reverent tale...Through meticulous research, Checkoway brings crisp focus to a fuzzy time in American history...The book carries hints of The Boys in the Boat...Checkoway stays true to her salvage mission. She unearths characters flawed and fetching and shines an unflinching light on race and class...glorious storytelling and a triumphant, unpredictable finish."—Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Shows that sometimes all you need to start something epic is a dream."—Bustle

"Checkoway takes on an incredible story of overcoming obstacles and defying the odds...poignant."—Swimming World Magazine

"This story of one (at first) seemingly unremarkable man and his effect on camp children and the world of swimming is both inconceivable and dazzling. You won't want to miss it."—Book Reporter

"A good and graceful writer."—Honolulu Magazine

"A made-for-the-screen story."—Outside Magazine

"Exceptionally well-researched and well-written."—ESPN.com

"A wild, improbable story that makes for popular Hollywood movies but rarely happens in real life. But this story's real."—Maui Time

"This true story is entertaining and absorbing and good for the soul."—Sunset Magazine

"A classic underdog story...Had [Checkoway] not written this book, their exact story might have never been told, but instead, American swimming's most fascinating chapter gets the shine it deserves."—Deadspin

"Lively, at times history reading more dramatic than fiction...surprises wait in both the pool and in the story of these remarkable characters."—Petoskey News

From the Publisher

★ 11/09/2015
This rags-to-riches story revolves around school teacher Soichi Sakamoto, who took a group of Japanese-American children from a poor, segregated Hawaiian sugar plantation and taught them how to be champion swimmers, practicing in one of the plantation's fetid irrigation ditches. If the basis for the book doesn't sound amazing enough, how the story unfolds—Japan vying for the Olympic games, Pearl Harbor being bombed, WWII changing the world forever—allows the story and characters to evolve in uplifting and heartbreaking ways. Debut author Checkoway is equal to the task of telling this moving narrative. From page one, where she writes "Lip-locking lovers perambulated... and holiday makers gathered... under Maxfield Parrish skies," it is evident that Checkoway's ability to set a scene is uncanny and accomplished. Her top-notch skill as a researcher allows her to bring to life the long-forgotten saga of the swim team, which she fears might otherwise "simply disappear." Depicting determination, discrimination, hope, anguish, hard work, and hard choices, Checkoway has created a sports history that is singular in its own right, and a fitting testament to the over 200 youths who swam for many reasons toward one goal: "Olympics First! Olympics Always."(Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

10/01/2015
It's 1937 and Tokyo is campaigning to host the 1940 summer Olympics. Meanwhile, on the Hawaiian island of Maui, the children of sugar plantation workers are causing mayhem in the irrigation ditches. Checkoway (Creating Fiction; Little Sister) tells the astonishing journey of a schoolteacher who, with no prior knowledge of swimming or coaching, started a swim team for these children with the goal of making it to the Olympics. Guided by Coach Sakamoto, whose approach to swimming was both radical and tyrannical, the dream incredibly starts to become a reality. Members of the Three-Year Swim Club, as they are called, travel to the U.S. mainland, win national competitions, and are invited to international ones. As world events take a tragic turn, it becomes a long, frustrating wait as Olympics after Olympics is canceled. What place will swimming play in the lives of Coach Sakamoto and his swimmers as time passes, and will anyone be competition-ready when the games resume? VERDICT This captivating nonfiction, featuring engaging individuals and portraying a tumultuous time in history, chronicles Hawaii's second golden age of swimming. Sports and history enthusiasts will enjoy this title as much as book clubs and general readers.—Zebulin Evelhoch, Central Washington Univ. Lib.

Library Journal

Narrator Alex Chadwick’s lightly dramatic voice keeps listeners focused on a fascinating story. Soichi Sakamoto's Three-Year Swim Club in Maui hoped for glory in the 1940 Tokyo Olympics, a goal thwarted by WWII. Julie Checkoway dives into the past for accounts of swimming records, training innovations, and the swimmers themselves. These branches flow into a larger story of growing global tensions, Olympics history, and Japanese-Americans in Hawaii. It's occasionally poignant, as when a club member encounters a German P.O.W. he once met in competition. When the account turns to swim meets, Chadwick's voice sounds wonderfully like vintage radio coverage. There's athletic triumph, but the war's toll on those hopes hits home. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

FEBRUARY 2016 - AudioFile

2015-09-02
A brightly told story of the triumph of underdogs. In 1937, Soichi Sakamoto formed the Three-Year Swim Club, whose members were children of workers living on a Hawaiian sugar plantation. Sakamoto, a teacher who could hardly swim, had seen them frolicking in a dirty, shallow ditch and made a proposition: "Three years of discipline. Three years of sacrifice. Three years of nothing except swimming" would yield great results. If they worked hard and cared enough, he was certain they could become members of the United States men's swim team at the 1940 Olympic Games, to be held in Tokyo. Filmmaker, journalist, and nonfiction writer Checkoway (Little Sister: Searching for the Shadow World of Chinese Women, 1996, etc.) fashions the story of the tireless Sakamoto and his eager swimmers into an exuberant, well-researched, if sometimes overly detailed celebration of unlikely champions. As a coach, Sakamoto combined encouragement—he learned the power of positive thinking from Norman Vincent Peale—with intense attention to stroke technique and training regimens. With the help of former Olympians and enthusiastic sportswriters, he publicized his team and raised money to send them around the world to compete, and they performed astoundingly well. His star, Keo Nakama, for example, swam against 1,100 competitors in Sydney, Australia, coming in first in every race. Not surprisingly, where money and fame were at stake, rivals emerged. One in particular tried to wrest control of the team from Sakamoto, criticizing his methods and manipulating himself into a position of power. But Sakamoto persisted, even when the 1940 Olympics were cancelled after Japan invaded China and subsequent games were scratched because of war. Not until 1948 did members of the team—men as well as women—compete in the Olympics, proving themselves champions. Details about training, swim times, and the team's travels occasionally overwhelm Checkoway's tense, vivid, and inspiring narrative. Not without its flaws, but a good choice for fans of David Halberstam's The Amateurs (1985), Daniel Boyne's The Red Rose Crew (2000), and similar books.

Kirkus Reviews