The author's reasons for writing this book were, first, to provide readers with some basic hydrodynamic tenants that will help them understand the reasons for the complex nature of the stroke mechanics employed by elite, competitive swimmers. The first three chapters on resistance and propulsion were included for this purpose. The second purpose was to describe, what the author believes, is the major propulsive mechanism swimmers use: shoulder adduction. A third purpose was to comment on some of, the many "fads" and misconceptions about stroke mechanics that abound in our sport. His final reasoning behind writing this book was to speculate on some theories about stroke mechanics he developed over the years. The efficacy of these theories have yet to be validated by research, but are worth considering nonetheless. These purposes were met by the individual chapters on each competitive stroke, plus a chapter on stroke rates and stroke lengths. This book is not a continuation of the Swimming Faster series, although it contains some of the same information. Therefore, the author purposely changed the title to reflect his purpose in writing it. It contains descriptions and summaries of the most important research on swimming hydrodynamics over the last several decades, in his opinion. The descriptions of stroke mechanics are supported by photographs of some of the greatest swimmers in the world, both past and present. They were made from in-competition videos where one can see how they really swim, as opposed to what they think they should be doing, which is what one often sees in pool demonstrations and out-of-competition instructional videos.

This book by ex pro diver Jim Limbrick is a tribute to all 58, 20th Century professional divers who lost their lives whilst playing their part in effecting the extraction of oil and gas from UK northern waters, specifically the North Sea, during the years 1971 to 1999. Diving and Offshore background is given, with all deceased diver's names and nationalities, fatality dates, diver's ages, accident locations, platforms, employers, equipment used, water depths, and details of accidents, all as far as is known, or can be told. With subsequent Safety Regulations and recommendations, this book is a must for all those people interested in diving, and especially budding divers of any persuasion.