Bill George has always enjoyed getting to know more about the cities he has lived in.
From Chicago to Detroit to Sacramento, each place has plenty of untold stories.
In Sacramento, that story involved the Arden Hills Swim Club, and the Olympic glory that would follow.
“Victory in the Pool: How a Maverick Coach Upended Society and Led a Group of Young Swimmers to Olympic Glory” is the story of Sherm Chavoor, a novice coach who built a club from the ground up, bringing in swimmers from all races and religious backgrounds to become one of the swimming powers of the world.
The book was published in 2023 by Rowman & Littlefield and is available on Amazon, among other book outlets.
Swimmers from the club, led by Debbie Meyer and Mark Spitz, claimed Olympic gold in 1968 and 1972 and changed the sport.
But they weren’t alone. Sue Pedersen, Mike Burton, John Ferris and Jeff Float were among the Olympics from the club.
“I had written other books, and this story just came together. I just felt there was a good story here. I have been a historian and journalist and I had a historic approach to it. Sacramento is a great city, but this was so unknown even here,” Bill George told Swimming World. “It is a portrait of post-war America when swimming became prominent in our country, specifically California. The growth of age group swimming and minorities in swimming.
“It really kind of wrote itself. Sherm created a club when that really didn’t happen much. And he didn’t discriminate. He had a true genius in what he was doing and how that affected the future.”
Meyer would go on to be the star of the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Mark Spitz then became the biggest name in swimming history in 1972 when he won a then-unprecedented seven Olympic gold medals in Munich.
“It is a fascinating era with the transition from pure amateurism to professionalism. Kids today will learn what swimmers had to go through,” Bill George said. “Debbie Meyer was the most famous athlete in the world after the 68 Olympics. Mike Burton – he wins in Mexico City and comes back and is the last guy on the team in 72, then wins gold in Munich. Then of course, Mark Spitz.”
But it all started with the coach.
“Sherm Chavoor is a fascinating character. He was in the war, then changed his name. I wish I had more on Sherm’s early days. What motivated him and why did he change his name,” George said.
He delivered in the water, helping swimming legends of all races and religions, rise in a completely different time.
Some of his swimmers were former Japanese internment camp victims in the U.S. Some were Black, Jewish – it was a plethora of cultures.
“That part of it resonated with people around here,” George said. “In Sacramento, the response has been great.”
It is a fascinating look at an era of swimming heroes and their heroics in the water, but more importantly, how an unlikely coach and group of swimmers from all backgrounds, came together to form something special.
That theme never gets old and deserves the tribute that George’s work provides.