Swimming Between the Lines, by Mariah Sturdivant

Poetry, chapbook, 28 pages, from Bottlecap Features.

Swimming Between the Lines is a storytelling journey of one woman’s experience as a athlete, specifically swimmer. The story traces the rhythm of growing up as a black athlete in a white-dominated sport. The quite reflections captures the way movement and memory intertwine. Each piece of writing offers a glimpse into the mindset of a swimmer. The discipline and competition is revealed to be present both in and out of the water, shaping a young woman’s understanding of herself.

The chapbook brings a new experience into the world of swimming that some people may not be aware of. Through the whistles and stopwatches, there is a whole new world once someone steps onto the water stained pool deck. The exhaustion before sunrise and silence beneath the surface encapsulates the community of the swimming world. And of course, the bittersweet goodbye that comes with the sport as it becomes a memory instead of a routine.

Swimming Between the Lines is not just about swimming, its’ about growing, leaving, and learning to breath again once the water goes still.

Mariah Sturdivant is a Chicago-based writer, born and raised. She earned a MFA in Creative Writing from Roosevelt University. Mariah also curates a blog called Inside The Mind Blog. She has been a competitive swimmer from the age of eight up until her senior year of college and this chapbook is the journey of those years she has experienced as a swimmer. She has loved reading and writing from a young age. Her writing was published by Sad Girl Diaries and Blue World Literary Journal.