Top 5 Tuesday: Top 5 Swimming Movies of All Time
Rudy, Prefontaine, Slap Shot, The Natural, Raging Bull phew…whatever. We have all seen all the great sporting movies (I hope, if not go rent the previous four immediately). But these films have been analyzed and glorified over and over again. On the other hand, who has taken the time to discuss the top Swimming Movies of all time? I’m not talking about “Stroke Technique With [Insert Name Here],” we are talking Hollywood (or, well, close to) releases. Pride has been making all the news lately in the swimming community around here lately…but how will it stack up against the classics?
5. Back to School. Actor(s)-Rodney Dangerfield. Memorable Lines: Dangerfield-”What’s your favorite subject?” College Student-”Poetry.” Dangerfield-”Really? Well, maybe you can help me straighten out my Longfellow.”
This film would without a doubt make a run for number one if it weren’t for one small little detail: it’s actually about diving. BUT, since the NCAA holds the “Swimming AND Diving Championships” every year, for the purposes of the countdown it will be stand. Who could forget the Triple Lindy, the greatest dive in the history of diving? I am still waiting for the Chinese to bust this one out at the Olympics.
4. Swimming Upstream. Actor(s)-Geoffrey Rush, Judy Davis. Memorable Quotes-Paul: “You’re going to have to do better than that mate, I’ve been psyched out by experts.”
This great film about the rise of Australian swimming champion Tony Fingleton features a great performance (as usual) by Geoffrey Rush. The story (an autobiographical account) details how Tony grew up in a struggling, working-class Australian home with an Alcoholic father. He only thinks that he can finally win his Dad’s attention by winning in the pool. I won’t ruin the ending, but managed to actually tell the story of life and swimming without making either of them lame (something many sports movies fail).
3. Pride. Actor(s)- Terrence Howard, Bernie Mac. Memorable Quotes- Bernie Mac: “Jim, where I come from, we swim naked. And I don’t wanna embarrass nobody.”
Hey, I liked it. Of course these movies are going to have some over-the-top dramatics and some small errors in swimming rules, etc. But, these movies are what they are: an attempt to inspire us and show how people have succeeded despite tremendous odds against them. This does that. Plus, I’ll cheer any movie that raises the profile of the sport.
2. Ordinary People. Actor(s)-Timothy Hutton, Mary Tyler Moore, Donald Sutherland. Memorable Quotes- “Happy! Ward, you tell me the meaning of happy. But first you better make sure your kids are good and safe, that they haven’t fallen of a horse, been hit by a car, or drown in that swimming pool you’re so proud of!”
Robert Redford directed this Academy Award Winning movie about the life of a depressed young man (Timothy Hutton) who deals with a struggling relationship with his parents, alienation, and the rigors of swimming on a High School team. I’ll say no more as I clearly can’t do the film justice, but a definite must-see.
1. Swimfan. Actor(s)-Jesse Bradford, Erika Christensen. Memorable Quotes- Stalker: “You said that you loved me!” Star Swimmer: “You told me to.”
Oh man, talk about guilty pleasure. Personally, I think that this dukes it out with Back to School for funniest on this list without a doubt. I don’t know what the filmmakers aimed for with this one, but wow, did they succeed in making me laugh (and, sniffle, winning my heart). The story is about Ben Cronin (a name that needs to be thrown around far more in locker room discussions by the way), a star swimmer who has everything going for him until a stalker comes around and: ruins his life, almost kills him and somehow makes him test positive for steroid abuse. How can you beat that? Answer: impossible. Until they make another movie that declares the winning time at a swim meet was 1:17 (for which race we will never know, but it seemed to impress the “Stanford Scouts” at the pool), I don’t even want anyone comparing it to this cinematic masterpiece. I’m still brooding over the Academy Award snubbing.
Honorable Mention: Diving In. Another absolute “B” movie classic (actually, do the grades go lower than that?) that would have made the countdown if it had only been about swimming. Although a memorable quote I love: “Sorry kid, you just don’t have what it takes to make the diving team…you’re going to have to swim the backstroke for the team this year.”
Comment by Michael
Posted on May 15th, 2007 at 19:05
May I make two additions:
A. Since we are talking about FINA events, too, don’t forget GATTACA. This wonderful SCI-FI flick has some wonderful open water swimming between the two brothers (Root for Ethan Hawke, guys!) and, of course, Jude Law plays the Olympic medalist (NOT gold!) who provides the perfect genetic materials for the story to work.
B. Any Tarzan film with Swimming Hall of Famer Johnny Weismuller. How difficult can it be to beat Ian Thorpe or Michael Phelps once you’ve outswam African gators hot on the watery trail for the hero-as-lunch!
Where is Jane and a very long tree vine when you really need them?
Comment by Nathan
Posted on May 15th, 2007 at 19:18
Oh, David… this hurt. SwimFan was by far the worst swimming movie ever, and quite possibly in the top10 or worst movies PERIOD.
Comment by Jason
Posted on May 15th, 2007 at 21:55
What about major league. the catchers X wife was an olympic alternate 200 IMer.
Comment by Jill
Posted on May 15th, 2007 at 22:00
Okay, if you put Tarzan in there, and are openinf it up to FINA events, ya gotta add in at least one Esther Williams film. If it wasn’t for her, there wouldn’t be a sport of synchronized swimming.
Comment by Cornell
Posted on May 15th, 2007 at 22:59
I’d go for Back to School for a top 5 anything, but there’s a little known swimming film named “Alex” that tries (I mean, it’s not that great, but it tries) to do the “overcoming adversity” thing of great sports movies.
And please, Paul Maclean does more swimming in A River Runs Through It than depicted in a few of these films. A little loyalty to your hometown, eh?
Comment by Michel Angstadt
Posted on May 16th, 2007 at 00:46
How about “The Swimmer” (1968), with Burt Lancaster. I watched it many, many years ago when we were still on black and white TV. A review I found in Google makes me want to wathc it again, or read the story on which it is based.
Comment by maja
Posted on May 16th, 2007 at 01:03
and there’s ‘On A Clear Day’, for the open-water swimmers amongst you, about a man deciding to swim the English Channel and whist training to this journey deals with broken past and broken relashionships …. plenty of swimming shots and one can sense the cold water.brrrr.
Comment by Adam
Posted on May 16th, 2007 at 06:24
David, all your taste is in your mouth. I’m assuming the Swim Fan thing was tongue in cheek. You might as well put Jane Fonda doing a backflip in On Golden Pond.
Maja is right. “On a Clear Day” is inspirational and has some great swim scenes. That’s a great movie in terms of story, cinematography and production.
Great swim scenes: Dr. No - Sean Connery = good stroke & Ursula Andress ; Alien Resurrection - Good Hypoxic set; The Deep - if nothing else than Jacqueline Bissett in a swim suit in her absolute prime; Fast Times at Ridgemont High - Phoebe Cates demonstrates proper technique for getting out of a pool; CaddyShack - for the syncronized swimming fans.
Comment by Jim Christian
Posted on May 16th, 2007 at 06:39
How about “The Big Blue”, directed by Luc Besson and starring Jean Reno. A beautiful, breathtaking (sorry) film about competitive deep free diving.
Comment by button
Posted on May 16th, 2007 at 06:42
“Plus, I’ll cheer any movie that raises the profile of the sport.”
What??
Five years from now, Amanda Beard is going to be shooting for yet another fifteen minutes of fame. When she does that soft-core swimming porno movie, will you cheer that? Wait, don’t answer that!
We need to be careful what we wish for. Good old Kurt Thomas did a gymnastics movie, “Gymkata” back in the 80’s. Men’s gymnastics still hasn’t recovered…
Comment by Adam
Posted on May 16th, 2007 at 06:49
Button, hate to correct you in public, but American Anthem did far more damage to gymnastics than Gymkata.
As for Beard on Skinemax, she’ll never be Shannon Tweed. Never!
Comment by Jason
Posted on May 16th, 2007 at 08:50
What about Rocky IV. Stallone has perfect technique in his butterfly. People need to take a page from his hips chest its quite inspiring.
Comment by Adam
Posted on May 16th, 2007 at 08:53
Jason, you disappoint me, my friend. that was Rocky III as Apollo was teaching him to use muscles he never knew he had. Rocky IV was the scaling of the mountain after outrunning the KGB’s cars in the snow.
I don’t get out much.
ALV
Comment by Jason
Posted on May 16th, 2007 at 09:03
damn!!! man wow i disapoint myself. i forgot rocky 4 was when Andre Kirilenko… err Ivan Drago was dating Brigit Nielson.
Comment by Robertnole
Posted on May 16th, 2007 at 11:30
wasnt there a disney channel movie some years ago where this kid was turning into a mermaid and kick a** and taking names in the pool and with the ladies. 2012, the year of the triple lindy, wait for it, im calling it now.
Comment by Scott
Posted on May 16th, 2007 at 11:33
What about the “Free Willy” series of films? That whale had an incredible dolphin kick.
Comment by JB
Posted on May 16th, 2007 at 12:54
I haven’t seen Pride yet, but for the most part I’ve disliked every scene involving swimming I’ve ever seen in a movie or on TV. Everything from start/turn/stroke technique to the way the swimmers wear their suits/goggles/caps is ridiculous.
One series of scenes I actually enjoyed was in Man on Fire, which had nothing to do with swimming. But, Denzel Washington’s character “coaches” the little girl (Dakota Fanning) in a couple scenes, then has her compete in a meet. The meet actually reminds me of an authentic age group meet (or at least a summer league meet) without being too hokey.
Comment by Erik
Posted on May 16th, 2007 at 15:10
What about TV –
5) Any show with Summer Sanders
4) Superman / Aquaman — Aquaman has some serious kick
3) Flipper — he has an entire stroke named after him
2) Man from Atlantis — ran in the 70s — an epic swimming adventure
1) Of course ” Baywatch” nothing could ever measure up
Comment by JJ
Posted on May 16th, 2007 at 15:58
…Don’t forget Shelly Winters in the original Poseidon Adventure from ‘72. After the cruise ship rolled over from an earthquake-induced tsunami, her character, a former Olympic swimming champion, had to go hypoxic and swim underwater in her granny panties. She was the first of the crew to go, but ended up dying of a heart attack on the deck after she went back to get her husband. She reportedly trained with an Olympic swim coach so that her character, would come across more realistically in the underwater scenes. (anybody know who that was??) It was also reported that she was pissed when the script had a late rewrite, as the original script had her survive as the main heroine saving people, instead of Gene Hackman.
I remember the scene well though not her technique, but one of our coaches uses that image to teach the pulldown after the breaststroke turn!
FYI her character also drowned in “A Place in the Sun” because she didn’t know how to swim.
Comment by Adam
Posted on May 16th, 2007 at 16:06
Leonardo Decaprio was very good in swimming away from the suction of the Titanic going down. Remember, he didn’t have a life jacket. He also egg beatered quite well hoping kate winslet would move her fat ass over so he could get on the big plank of wood.
Comment by Coach79
Posted on May 16th, 2007 at 16:14
Wow- I can’t believe nobody has mentioned The Guardian… Horrible film, not to anyones suprise since it had both Kevin Costner AND Aston Kutcher in it…
But there was this rediculous swimming under-plot where Kutcher was a HS All-American or some nonsense like that who’s relay got in a car accident in which he was the sole survivor… but they mentioned that he was an All-American in the 100y Individual Medly…
Really!?!?! Kind of like the 1:17 from SwimFan… You’d think a movie witht he budget of The Guardian would have a fact checker who could figure that out…
And they had Costner’s body double swimming laps with a fairly nice stroke, but Kutcher kept hitting the wall and lifting his head/chest straight up, looking like a 10-under at his first meet and flipping their goggles down around their neck (a no-no according to David) and looking at their mom for approval… No way was he All-American in the 100y IM with that finish…
Ugh. I hated everything about that movie…
Comment by Coach79
Posted on May 16th, 2007 at 16:17
The Guardian- horrible movie. Worse swimming.
Costners swimming ‘double’ looked good, but Kutcher kept hitting the wall and flipping goggles down around his neck like a 10-under at a summer league meet. As we now from David’s list, goggles around the neck is a no-no after 10.
This is especially annoying considering Kutcher was a ‘All-American’ in the 100y IM. Yup. 100y IM. Nice fact checking. The budget for that movie was well over 20mil, and they couldn’t make a phone call to figure that out?
Comment by TS
Posted on May 16th, 2007 at 19:56
Muriel’s Wedding had a hot swimmer in it…and some ABBA songs.
Comment by lissaw
Posted on May 17th, 2007 at 10:39
The best swimming I’ve seen on the big screen recently was Naomi Watts in 21 grams. She has got to be a swimmer in real life.
Just watched swimfan the other day on cable. Apparently wherever they live they can’t afford lights in their pool area.
Comment by JB
Posted on May 17th, 2007 at 13:09
WATERWORLD!!!
Comment by Canadian
Posted on May 17th, 2007 at 16:09
Wait for the Fall ‘07 release of Victor. It’s a great drama about the life, tragic death, and subsequent organ donation of the ‘84 Olympic 200BR Gold Medalist. All swimming scenes (’82 World Championships, ‘82 Commonwealth Games as well as ‘84 Olympics) were re-created for the film. No archived footage was used.
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Posted on May 23rd, 2007 at 10:54
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Comment by Dustin
Posted on May 23rd, 2007 at 18:20
what about flipper or free willy. they have swimming
Comment by Dustin
Posted on May 23rd, 2007 at 18:25
david you are silly
Comment by Dustin
Posted on May 23rd, 2007 at 18:26
what about jaws
Comment by Kirk Nelson
Posted on May 24th, 2007 at 09:31
Most people wouldn’t call Caddyshack a “swimming movie,” but the pool scene is pretty damn funny! :)
“Swimming Upstream” would get my vote. Really good movie, I thought.
Comment by da_texas
Posted on May 24th, 2007 at 11:34
“Splash”: Darryl Hannah dolphin kicking in the final ‘escape’ scene. She didn’t have much room in the bathtub scene, but it -was- filled with water.
I guess the Psycho showerstab scene doesn’t count? It did remind me of how one old coach dealt with swimmers who p’d him off. But I digress. I get distracted. Some people say I have ADD, but I..OH LOOK! A kitty!
Comment by da_texas
Posted on May 24th, 2007 at 11:37
Comment by button
Posted on May 16th, 2007 at 06:42
“…Five years from now, Amanda Beard is going to be shooting for yet another fifteen minutes of fame.”
What a dope you are. She hasn’t swum anything longer than a 200 in years, and now you’re suggsting she’ll try the 1500? Sheesh, what a goober.
Comment by Marie
Posted on June 3rd, 2007 at 02:47
Does anyone know of any good movies about GIRL swimmers, preferably college age or younger?
Comment by Bec
Posted on June 4th, 2007 at 05:39
What about Dawn? The story of Dawn Fraser, one of the greatest swimmers ever!!!
Comment by Jason Forthofer
Posted on June 4th, 2007 at 09:46
Hey guys,
I’ve put a sports movie site together and would love your input/reviews on some of the swimming movies. I’ve gotten some more swimming movies from this post that I didn’t know about so thank you!
Comment by Jason Forthofer
Posted on June 4th, 2007 at 09:46
My bad, here is the site:
http://www.sportsinmovies.com