Vicki Valosik

Team USA returned to the Olympic podium in Paris with a stunning silver medal performance. 🇺🇸 Now their historic comeback is featured in the updated epilogue of Swimming Pretty—just released in paperback!

Written by a masters artistic swimmer , Swimming Pretty traces the fascinating, often overlooked history of our sport and has received praise from the New York Times, LA Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR and more.

Eighty years ago today, VE Day sparked celebrations around the world—including plans for the spectacular Allied Forces Headquarters (AFHQ) Aquacade hosted at the stunning cascade pool at Italy’s Caserta Palace. Red Cross recreation director Katharine Curtis (in uniform in the first picture)—who had just a few years earlier ushered synchronized swimming into the world of competitive sport—was tasked with organizing a massive water show to mark the Allied victory in Europe. Working with fellow Red Cross staff and Allied volunteers, she taught land drills to scratchy Victrola records, improvised costumes for 260 performers, and transformed the palace’s cascade pool into a full aquatic stage. By opening night, the show had become a dazzling spectacle: a 65-piece military band played in full uniform, national anthems rang out, and Allied generals looked on as dozens of men and women performed synchronized routines in lily suits and striped trunks. One audience member called it more breathtaking than Billy Rose’s famed Aquacade. On this VE Day and Red Cross Day, it’s really nice to think about how people who had suffered so much and faced so much uncertainty found connection through such a unique celebration. To learn more about the AFHQ Aquacade, check out Katharine Whitney Curtis: Mother of Synchronized Swimming by Jordan Whitney Wei or my book, Swimming Pretty: The Untold Story of Women in Water. Pictures from the Chicago History Museum.

I’m delighted that Swimming Pretty was shortlisted for the sports book awards for the Vikki Orvice Award for Women’s Sports Writing! The award is given in association with . It’s especially wonderful to be nominated alongside such a fantastic list of titles. Congratulations to the other short-listed authors!

Celebrating International Women's Day with some wise words from Annette Kellerman—swimwear maverick, vaudeville sensation, and rabble-rouser! Kellerman revolutionized women's swimwear with her famous one-piece bathing suit that helped women not only swim safely but become real aquatic athletes, ushering in the growth of women's competitive swimming. She launched a blockbuster vaudeville act that combined dance with graceful swimming feats (earning her the nickname "the mother of synchronized swimming") but reached the pinnacle of fame for her daredevil movie stunts in the silent film era. Kellerman swam with alligators, dove from cliffs and lighthouses, and deftly maneuvered through rapids with her hands bound, prompting reviewers in 1916 to question the long held assumption that women were the "weaker s*x" and predict that with such a spectacular display of female fortitude, surely women's suffrage was just around the corner (which it was!). Kellerman used her fame as a platform to rail against "male prudery" that held women back and to encourage women to toss aside their corsets and encumbering clothes, embrace their physical strength, and get moving and get swimming. Scroll for some fantastic pictures and illustrations of Kellerman. And, of course, you can learn all about her and other strong women who parted the waves in my book Swimming Pretty: The Untold Story of Women in Water.

I am really looking forward to this conversation. Please join us on Friday! It's free to register and will be held virtually!

Brown Bag Lit's next panel discussion will focus on how to research and write nonfiction through the lens of sports writing. Thank you to authors Dr. Letisha Engracia Cardoso Brown , Maggie Mertens and Vicki Valosik for joining us on Friday, February 21 from 12 - 1 pm EST online. Register for your free ticket here:
https://www.brownbaglit.com/events

Retracing the Fascinating History of Artistic Swimming with Vicki Valosik and Her Book 'Swimming Pretty' Vicki Valosik is the author of "Swimming Pretty: The Untold Story of Women in Water", a book that traces the unique history of artistic swimming

What a wonderful surprise to see Swimming Pretty as a staff pick on NPR's Books We Love list for 2024! 😍 I'm not only honored but also having fun discovering a bunch more books to add to my reading que! 📚

Books We Love Here are 350+ great reads from 2024 hand-picked just for you by NPR staff and trusted critics.

California friends, please join me at one of my upcoming events in the greater San Francisco and Los Angeles areas! I will be joined by an amazing group of writers, swimmers, and performers, including the Aqualillies! Details below and in the attached flyers.

Thursday, Sept. 26 at 7pm - Books Inc. in Alameda, CA. In conversation with Bill May
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/vicki-valosik-at-books-inc-alameda-tickets-1000964821727

Friday, Sept. 27 at 6:30 pm - Avid Reader bookstore in Davis, CA. In conversation with Erin Arnold
https://avidreaderbooks.com/events/744920240927

Sunday, Sept. 29 at 2pm. Book talk: "Swimming Pretty: The History of Women Making a Splash in the Water." Hosted by the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles at the historic Los Angeles Athletic Club and featuring a performance by the Aqualillies (*See note below about tickets)
https://artdecola.org/events-calendar/swimming-pretty-aqualillies

Monday, Sept. 30 at 6:30 pm (doors open at 6) - Hermosa Beach Museum, Hermosa Beach, CA.
https://tinyurl.com/yrzk67sp

Wednesday, Oct. 2 at 7 pm - Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena, CA. In conversation with M.G. Lord
https://www.vromansbookstore.com/event/vicki-valosik-discusses-swimming-pretty

***The Sept. 29 book talk is a private event for LAAC and ADSLA members, but there are special tickets reserved for friends and the local swimming and writing communities since it is a rare chance to see the inside of the beautiful LAAC and a performance by the Aqualillies. If interested, please email [email protected] with "Swimming" in the subject line to receive ticket code.

Please join me on Thursday, August 29 at The Ivy Bookshop in Baltimore for a discussion about my new book, Swimming Pretty: The Untold Story of Women in Water.

I will be in conversation with Margaret Guroff, author of The Mechanical Horse: How the Bicycle Shaped American Life. It promises to be a great discussion on strong women, swimming, the connections between women's physical and political empowerment, and much more!

Ivy Bookshop - Vicki Valosik: SWIMMING PRETTY (with Margaret Guroff) The Ivy is pleased to present an evening of discussion around women in sports history, featuring Vicki Valosik and her engaging, thorough new history of women in synchronized swimming! Swimming Pretty explores the tensions between beauty and strength, aesthetics and athleticism have both impeded and...

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to the stellar athletes and inspiring coaches on Team USA for three incredible performances at the Olympics and for taking home the silver medal!!! What a tremendous achievement -- the culmination of so much hard work, sacrifice, and dedication. It is thrilling to see the US not just back at the Olympics again, but back on the podium! Way to go USA Artistic Swimming!

THIS IS REAL!!!!!!!! 🥈😭