Coffee Table Book of: Artistic Swimming (Paperback)

Coffee Table Book of: Artistic Swimming is a large format book of artistic swimming, printed edge to edge in colour, one picture to a page and the widest carried across two: nose clips and caps, sequined suits and headpieces, pools seen from above and from under the water, the gear being made and cared for, the old days of water ballet, and a few swimmers seen far off with their legs raised in a pattern.

The kit is laid out plain: a nose clip on a wet stone edge and spares in a clear case, a silicone cap on the tiles and a rubber one afloat at dusk, goggles on a towel, a suit of silver sequins on a hook, a fan shaped headpiece, hairpins and a hair band, a bowl of gelatin with its brush, a makeup case, an underwater speaker on its cable and a loudspeaker by the water at night, with a mat, a stretch band and a ballet barre for training on land.

The making and care follow sequins stitched in a wooden hoop, spools of thread and a dish of loose sequins, a seam under the sewing machine, shears on stretch fabric, a suit soaking in fresh water and drying flat in the shade, caps hung on a rail, lane ropes reeled away and a pool drained and covered.

Then the places, empty at every hour and in every season: pools in mist at first light, under noon sun and summer rain, in autumn leaves, wind, fog, frost and snow, under a full moon and floodlights, a tidal sea pool, a hilltop pool, a pool among olive trees, a northern lake at midnight, and a few small swimmers far off, in a ring like a flower, upside down in a duet, thrown high in a lift, treading water in a row and rising high from the water.

Short notes run through the book, on the moves and rules of the sport, the gear and how it is made and cared for, and its history from water ballet to the present day: a nose clip keeps water out of the nose while a swimmer hangs upside down under the water, a smooth silicone cap keeps the hair out of the eyes through long training sessions, in a lift, teammates under the water push one swimmer high above the surface, and in figures events, swimmers wore plain black suits and white caps, so only the movement was judged.

Printed in full colour on heavy 150gsm coated paper at 216 x 279 mm (8.5 x 11 inches), as a paperback.

Publisher - Cedar Pine Editions

Language - English

Perfect Bound

Contributors

By author

Dimitri Smith

Published Date - 2026-10-20

ISBN - 9671456001500

Dimensions - 27.9 x 21.6 x 0.7 cm

Page Count - 100