Lynn Sherr on 'Swim: Why We Love the Water'

Currently America's third most popular sport, swimming has been a wellspring of physical and spiritual renewal through the centuries. Enthusiastic devotees have included Julius Caesar, Benjamin Franklin and Hollywood mermaid Esther Williams, as well as open-water endurance swimmers Lynne Cox and Diana Nyad, and Olympians Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin. In "Swim: Why We Love the Water" (PublicAffairs, $25.99), lifelong swimmer and former ABC News correspondent Lynn Sherr celebrates the social history, art, science and sheer joy of this ancient activity. The book is a beauty, with illustrations including the 375-million-year-old fossil fish that first emerged from the water to breathe air, the evolution of swimming techniques and bathing costumes, and even Liberace's piano-shaped pool. Among the book's most inspiring facts: swimmers best joggers and walkers in every cardio number and show smaller age-related declines in working memory capacity, according to recent studies. Sherr also recounts how, as she approached age 70, she undertook an exhilarating mile-long swim in Turkey's Hellespont strait, which runs between the Asian and European continents, just across from the ancient city of Troy, the site of Homer's Iliad. She spoke with Newsday by telephone.

How do you explain the appeal of swimming to body, mind and spirit?

Our skin is our largest organ, so when you're in the water, every part of you is touched, enveloped, caressed. The buoyancy you feel in the water is as close to flying as you can get. Swimming calms me down and fills me with energy -- it's a magical combination.

What health benefits of swimming have you experienced at age 70?

I have more energy and am more supple than if I didn't swim. It's such a wonderful stretch. And when I swim, I am in a much better mood. My kids always make way when I say I'm going in the pool -- they know it's a good thing. And the muscles in my back have gotten stronger. I know, because my clothes fit tighter. When I was a girl, we weren't supposed to have those muscles, but how wonderful that we can have them now.

Why has open-water swimming become so popular?

Triathlons are largely driving the growth of open-water swimming. They have attracted runners and bikers who wanted to add swimming to their repertoire. The appeal of open water is that you can make a crossing from one place to another. It raises the question, are there going to be jellyfish or not, will there be waves, or a current? Whereas in a pool, you're bouncing back and forth between two walls. People love the idea that they are doing something uncharted, that hasn't been done before, or only by a few people.

There has been a boom in building swimming pools since 9/11, with more people eating and entertaining in these backyard mini-resorts than actually swimming. Why is that?

We've added self-indulgent details in our bathrooms -- heated bath towels, spa tubs -- and this is an extension of that. The fact that people are building in bar stools, and watching football and drinking beer while sitting in their pools disturbs me a bit -- I would want to swim. Maybe it's a matter of getting them comfortable in the water, and then they might try swimming.

What's the secret to swimming well?

I've looked for the thing that would make it easy for everyone to swim better or faster -- but it's different for everyone, because our bodies are all different. There's a debate among some swim coaches over whether balance or strength is more important. I think you need both. Core strength is important, and if you want to swim harder, you have to work on your arms.

What gave you the greatest sense of satisfaction when you swam Turkey's Hellespont channel?

The high of finishing the Hellespont race is still with me. There's a smile on my face every time I think about it. There has been an enormous sense of satisfaction in setting a goal, training for it and accomplishing it. There's no way I could have done it without training, and I trained hard. And my body felt great for weeks after. I kept swimming it in my mind, I kept feeling it.