These heavy Black bones

Ajulu-Bushell, Achieng

£18.99

In stock

By the age of fifteen Rebecca Achieng Ajulu-Bushell was world number one in the 50m breaststroke. Over the next three years, she would go on to become a double British champion, sports personality of the year in Kenya and make the GBR Olympic team. She was the first Black woman to do so. But this story is not about making history. This is the story of how she got there, what it cost her and, more importantly, why she walked away from it all. From swimming in wild lakes and the Indian ocean, to chlorine-damaged skin, gruelling training and press scrutiny, Rebecca charts her career’s ascent in stunning prose. Laying bare the pressures at the core of competitive swimming and meditating on Blackness and identity, ‘These Heavy Black Bones’ is a compulsive study of intensity and the ecstasy and agony of peak physical performance.

ISBN: 9781805300441 Category:

Description

*Listed as one of TIME‘s 18 Black leaders working to end the racial wealth gap*

In Kenya the pool was green and surrounded by concrete so hot it burnt the soles of her small feet. She didn’t know any different. A decade later she would be double British Champion and the first Black woman ever to swim for Great Britain. But this story is not about making history.

As her body and mind are sharpened through gruelling training, press scrutiny and the harshness of adolescence, Rebecca questions who she is swimming for and what the onward journey to the Olympics will cost her.

A compulsive and unforgettable study of intensity, These Heavy Black Bones meditates on Blackness, identity and the ecstasy of peak physical performance. In stunning prose, Rebecca charts her career’s ascent, her singular love of the water, and lays bare the pressures within her swimming world.

Additional information

Weight 0.362 kg
Dimensions 22 × 14.5 × 2.5 cm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Hardback

Pages

256

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

797.21 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K

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