Trials: A Swimming Novel of Olympic Dreams and Redemption

by Ben Brostoff

"Trials is that rare novel that slips beneath the surface of sport and resurfaces somewhere deeper - gritty, lyrical, and hauntingly real. It’s not just a story about swimming; it’s a plunge into obsession, identity, and the unforgiving pursuit of greatness. You don’t read this book - you feel it, in your lungs, your muscles, your pulse."
—Mel Stewart, Olympic Gold Medalist, World Champion and CEO, SwimSwam

They were once rising stars. A decade later, three swimmers again face the challenge of qualifying for the Games in the midst of a brutal economic recession and geopolitical turmoil. As Olympic Trials approach, the dream remains the same, but the stakes have changed.

In 2004, the Holybridge Aquatic Club was New England's most prestigious swim team. Connor Mahoney, Hunter Banks and Miles Green were the toast of swimming. Wes Mahoney was the most celebrated coach in the country. Matt McDaniels was his brilliant assistant and headed for an NCAA coaching gig.

Ten years later, each is a different person in a different world. The unraveling of the American economy and a series of unexplained power grid attacks upend swimming's balance of power. When an old Massachusetts coaching legend finds opportunity in crisis, three men on the wrong side of 30 have one last chance to find glory.

Set against New England pools and the pressures of an unforgiving sport, Trials is the story of when life happens but the fire won't go out.

320 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 19, 2025

Reviews

[Keenan Bartlett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trials was a great read. As a former competitive swimmer, I really connected with the details and emotions—so much of it felt familiar and true. While the book is about swimming on the surface, it’s really about ambition, sacrifice, and what it means to devote yourself completely to something that doesn’t always give back.

The timeline shifts tripped me up a couple of times, but not enough to pull me out of the story. Once I settled into the rhythm, it actually added a lot of depth and perspective.

Overall, it’s an easy, engaging read with plenty of heart, and it left me reflecting on both the beauty and the cost of chasing big dreams.

[Guy Gosselin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read, written by someone who really knows competitive swimming. Great book even for people who are not competitive swimmers. Well done!

[Shannon Newell · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a swimmer, I wanted so badly to like this book, but as an English teacher, I just couldn’t. Writing a book takes a lot of work, so I don’t want to discount the writer, but the structure was incredibly difficult to follow and the editor missed a lot of errors.

[Chad]

I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. As a reader with several years of experience being a competitive swimmer and now with several years of being a swim dad I was sure it was going to be a great read.

While I did appreciate the references and shop-talk, a lot of it did feel shoehorned into the prose somewhat. There were times when I felt the story was being bogged down by unnecessary detail.

Ultimately though I just found the structure of the story made it impossible to engage with it. The narrative comes in tiny chapters that quickly jump back and forth from the present to various points in the past and with a cast of characters that all seem to share the spotlight at least a little. After getting well into the book I found it more and more difficult to bring myself back to it. It was incredibly difficult for me to feel like a narrative arc was developing. It seemed like a fairly clinical progression of one event to the next. While I thought the prose was fine, I didn’t feel emotionally invested in any of it and honestly I was having a really hard time telling one character from another. The book just doesn’t work for me.

[Andrew M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well constructed novel, hitting multiple dynamics of sport, family and life across varied protagonists. Excellent debut!