Posted on Tue, Jun. 24, 2008

With equal parts lactic acid, chlorine and soda ash swirled in his bloodstream, author W. Hodding Carter has an admittedly crazy goal: Qualifying for the 2008 Summer Olympics Games as a member of the United States swimming team.

So is world record gold medalist Michael Phelps. The difference between the two men? Carter, whose event is the 50-meter freestyle sprint, would be a first-time Olympian at age 45 if he earns a spot on the team at a meet in Omaha Friday. Phelps, a 2004 Olympian, will be 23 when he takes to the blocks in Beijing later this summer (barring unforeseen circumstance, of course.)

With humor and some moving passages, Carter, a contributing writer to Outside magazine, chronicles his quest in Off the Deep End (Algonquin, $21.95). He plans to speak about his journey Wednesday evening at Books & Books in Coral Gables, where he will be introduced by swimming champ Gary Hall Sr.

Writing and swimming, he says, share commonalities. And he should know. As an aquatics director, Carter coaches the swim team at the Penobscot Bay YMCA in Rockport, Maine. He says he is even more excited about his three young children's successes with the sport than he is with his own. He was an NCAA Division III All-American at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, and gave up the sport after college. His current 24.45 seconds in the short course 50-meter free beats his college time, but he needs to hit 23.49 to qualify for the trials.

Carter is also the grandson of a Pulitzer-winning Mississippi newspaper editor Hodding Carter II. Dad, Hodding Carter III, was President Carter's State Department spokesman, a journalist and president and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation until he stepped down in 2005.

We caught Carter in a dry moment, between coaching and practicing, on his cellphone for a chat.

Q: Off the Deep End is a brisk read, and I imagine even non-swimmers could enjoy your conversational tone. Did all those years of swimming and competition pay off in your chosen profession?

A: Writing and swimming go hand in hand. Both take a dogged determination, and a lot of it is just showing up. The thing [about swimming] was the commitment and dedication to doing something even when you didn't want to. I learned discipline from being a swimmer as a kid, and it was something I needed as a writer.

Q:Swimming -- both its stroke technique and training methods -- has changed a lot since the 1980s. Your idol Mark Spitz tried to reclaim Olympic gold after retiring, and you had to chronicle his efforts critically for a magazine assignment. After decades in dry-dock, spent working for the Peace Corps, then writing jobs and starting a family, how did it feel to hit the water again?

A: I was an ageist when ripping into Mark Spitz and when I first started this [endeavor]. I felt good in the water, but it wasn't until I went to that first masters meet and had my butt handed to me that I realized those old geezers were kicking my ass. . . . But I have this whole world and friendship and existence I didn't have four years ago because I had this crazy idea.

Q:You write that your return to swimming might have saved your marriage. How so?

A: We were having a hard time in our marriage before I started swimming. Things have gotten a whole lot better. My wife likes it because I'm happier. I'm not quite as much of a grouch. I think I'm in better shape, so I'm not as awful to look at! And my kids joined the swim team, so it became like a family affair.

Q:What keeps you going?

A: I love having a giant goal. It's what keeps me going even if it's a crazy one like mine and seemingly unreachable. Whether I make it or not, in a way it doesn't matter because I love going after it.

Q:In my experience with the masters program from the '80s and early '90s, the fastest swimmers weren't in my 25-29 age group. You'd find the most competitive, in-shape athletes in the 40-44 and 45-49 age group. That's one thing I got out of your book. What do you hope people take away from Off the Deep End?

A: I have a one-in-a-million chance, but I hope people know it's important to have that goal. This is something older people can do, and they should be out there being athletic. If I can get that across to people, that when you hit your 40s and 50s, it's not over. There is ageism out there. It's gotten worse in the last 10 to 15 years. It's time to fight back.