Swimming for gold

After its New York and Los Angeles launch, the book Chasing Water: Elegy of an Olympian will be presented to a Nicosia audience on Monday, and promises to be quite the social event.

The sports book gives a dramatic look at the path that Olympic gold medalist swimmer Anthony Ervin took to becoming an Olympic idol. Co-authored by Constanine Markides, Chasing Water is a great read for anyone awaiting the 2016 Olympics in Rio, as Ervin is currently preparing to compete.

Ervin’s story is not only told with words, it is also relieved through black-and-white drawings and graphical story lines.

The Olympic gold medalist won a gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games at the age of 19. He was the first US Olympic swimmer of African American descent to win such an honour, along with Jewish heritage, who also grew up with Tourette’s syndrome. He shocked the sporting world by retiring soon after claiming two world titles following the 2000 Olympics. Auctioning off his gold medal for charity, he set off on a quest that involved fast motorcycles, tattoo parlors, and rock ’n’ roll bands. In 2012 he resurfaced to make the US Olympic team, as an even faster swimmer than before.

Co-author Markides is a New York–based swim trainer and former correspondent for the Mail. He has worked with CNN’s Anderson Cooper and was featured on CBC and NPR’s Marketplace. His essays and fiction have been published in various magazines and journals, including Rolling Stone. A high school state champion swimmer, Markides also swam for Columbia University.

Markides – who will be reading from the book – will be joined by the Mail’s former chief reporter and media advisor to the UN Stefanos Evripidou as the event’s moderator.

The book will be on sale and Markides will be more than happy to sign your copy. Also there will be drinks and snacks for anyone wanting to stay on after the reading for a bit of a party.

Chasing Water Elegy of an Olympian
Author reading and signing of the book by Constantine Markides. May 23. ARTos Foundation, Nicosia. 7pm. Tel: 22-445455

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.