The History of Swimming by Kim Powers

I heard about Kim Powers' book, The History of Swimming, through one of the e-mails I get from Austin College. I graduated from Austin College. The same class as Kim, 1979. I knew Kim Powers and his twin brother Tim. Or I should say, I knew who they were. We weren't a part of the same "circle of friends" but, when your college only has 1200 students, you get to know who most of them are, especially if they're in the same class as you.


I didn't know Kim and Tim. I didn't know about their senior year or their lives after college. I didn't know about alot of things that happened that last year at AC. It was a hard year for a lot of us. There were nervous breakdowns, breakups, unwanted pregnancies, suicide attempts, even deaths. It was a turbulent time for people so young who didn't have the tools, the life experiences, to help them cope with what was happening to them.

Anyway, I started looking at the reviews of The History of Swimming and I cruised by Kim's website for the book. Since he included a lot about Austin College in the book, I decided to read it. I've spent the last 10 years experiencing something akin to post traumatic stress disorder because of my senior year at Austin College. I guess it's been on my mind, a lot.

So I read his book. At times, it made me uncomfortable because of the personal memories it conjured up. And yet, I was mesmerized by it too. I knew who the main characters were, I knew who some of the minor characters were, I knew about many of the events and places he describes in the book. It was so surreal to find that connection.

Kim's story is about much more that his college years. It's about his brother. His twin brother. The History of Swimming relates the truth about Kim's feelings towards his brother, Tim. The confusion, desperation, anger, and love Kim felt about his twin and the life they shared. He centers the story around one weekend in which he goes searching for his brother who has gone missing from New York City. He uses the letters he has saved from his brother through the years as a road map of sorts to help him discover where his brother might have gone. The letters trigger many painful memories, as he travels back and forth in time, trying desperately to solve the mystery of why his brother disappeared. It's more than just a search for his brother though, it's also a personal quest to unravel the past and answer many questions about their lives that have tormented Kim. The answers don't come easy and they aren't always pleasant.

I can't, as much as I have tried, stand back and look at Kim's book from an objective point of view. His book haunts me with too many memories. Maybe, after I mull it over for a while, I can look at it with clear eyes. That's how I operate. I'll have to think about it for a while. And that's pretty much ALL I've been doing about since I finished reading The History of Swimming.