I just finished reading The Do Over – My Journey from the Depths of Addiction to World Champion Swimmer by Karlyn Pipes with Tito Morales and I have to say, it’s such an inspiring book, it’s worth the read.
It’s not just a book about a woman who has broken world records in swimming, it’s a book about a woman who had a troubling past and was able to put that behind her and “do-over” her life.
Karlyn Pipes is a person who had endured a lot. Unfortunately, I don’t think anyone gets away with having a perfect upbringing and childhood. We all have our share of horror stories that fill our past, and so did Karlyn. Brought up by an alcoholic father and hard-working mother of five children, Karlyn felt that she was lost in the shuffle and by the time she was a teen, she started drinking and partying.
After years and years of alcohol abuse, Karlyn realized that she too was an alcoholic and reached out to her mother for help. The book takes you down her long path from drinking a liter of vodka a day to her road to recovery. It’s really an emotional rollercoaster! At moments, you laugh and during other moments you cry.
One of the things I loved about this book was the special relationship between Karlyn and her mother. The theme ran throughout the book, but Karlyn didn’t realize it until she was into her recovery from addiction.
The other message that read loud and clear was that addiction can happen to anyone at any time, especially in the athletic community. Everyone always thinks that athletes are the least likely to get addicted and yet, that’s not true.
Karlyn shares wisdom that she shared along her journey and some of this wisdom resonated with me including:
- When referring to swimming or triathlons, she says, “the motivation comes from never being satisfied, for searching for the perfect performance, which of course ultimately does not exist.” Many athletes finish races and are upset about their performance and then brood about that for days, sometimes weeks afterwards. The message to me was don’t let a bad performance justify who you are. People need to be proud that they did what they did and how they did.
- “When it comes to swimming, I always celebrated my accomplishments, for many athletes nothing is good enough and they are cursed with the inability to pat themselves on the back,” Karlyn said. How true is that? How many people do you know who is like that?
The book is about hope, passion and the love of life and everything swimming! The most emotional moment was at the end of the book, when Karlyn was inducted into the International Swimmers Hall of Fame. She gets up to the podium, thanks her mother for giving her life twice and then tells the crowd that she is an alcoholic. It was moving, emotional and inspirational.
If you want to be inspired by a world champion who was down and out and was able to change her life to become one of the fastest swimmers in the world, then you should pick up this book. I would highly recommend it. It’s emotional, it’s funny and it’s just plain uplifting!
You can buy the book on Amazon here.
Also, if you want to book Karlyn for your next conference or seminar, contact her at [email protected].
