From the first recorded dip into what's now the driest spot on earth to the recreational swimmers in your local pool, humans have been getting wet for 10,000 years. Tracing the worldwide history of swimming, Howard Means discusses its significance in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, and explains its reemergence as a competitive sport at the modern Olympic Games. Along the way, Means dispels the idea that swimming is just about speed or great feats of aquatic endurance, revealing how it has influenced religion, fashion, architecture, public health, colonialism, segregation, and sexism.