Educational Media Reviews Online

This documentary follows five members of the Spartan Aquatic Club, Livonia, Michigan in 1995 as they train for the 1995 Senior Nationals, and the 1996 United States Olympics Trials. Interviews with the five swimmers provides insights into their motivation to succeed at an individual swimming stroke, and the depth of physical and mental training necessary to become one of the elite few of the quarter million U.S. amateur swimmers that can bring them selves to a level to possibly compete in the Olympics. For each Summer Olympics, the U.S. Olympic team is made up of a maximum of 52 members (26 male and 26 female swimmers) who not only need to be at the pinnacle of their sport, but also to be peaking in performance that Olympic year, with little chance of sustaining or regaining that level of performance for an Olympics four years later.

This is also the story of successful swimming coach, Dave Seagraves, and how he is able to assist in preparing these athletes for the mental challenges of competitive swimming. The video also explores what it takes to be a successful swimming parent, and the advantages of team membership on the development of the competitive swimmer.

Watermark is expertly filmed, produced, and edited. Though swimming is ultimately an individual sport and success a reflection of individual motivation and conditioning, the video takes particular care in understanding and explaining the additional factors such as coaching, family support, and teamwork that aid in molding a successful competitive swimmer. The competitions up to and including the Senior Nationals and U.S. Olympic trials are exhilarating. Watermark will be an excellent addition to collections supporting sports management curricula, supporting any courses of instruction that strive to better understand how to motivate athletes through coaching, and informing those who desire to better understand the psyches of athletes motivated to go beyond physical and mental pain to prepare for success in individual competition. Not just for swimmers, their parents, and coaches. Recommended.