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Midstream: A Life Remade in 50 Swims
A memoir of jumping feet first into a new life, reclaiming long-forgotten joys, and discovering a renewed sense of self after divorce, offering a fresh vision of midlife to women who have abandoned themselves in service of others
As Kate Washington approached her 50th birthday, she was also contemplating ending a 23-year marriage in which she had become so focused on serving others that she’d lost her sense of self. To find herself again, she embarked on what she calls the 50 Dunks Project.
The Go to 50 different bodies of water—swimming holes, hot springs, rivers, lakes, creeks, and oceans. Immerse fully, head under water. Chronicle the dunk with a picture and a post. Complete the challenge by the time she turned 50.
Largely set in Kate’s native California but taking us as far as southern France, dunking us in the waters of the American River, Lake Tenaya, Big Chico Creek, the Rive Gard, and beyond, Kate shares the highlights of her 50 Dunk challenge--including dozens of fantastic, semi-secret places to swim.
Along the way, she combines self-examination, wry humor, lyrical description, and cultural critique to illuminate the factors that so often cause women to lose themselves. Midstream makes the case for embracing joy and pleasure as a necessary act of resistance, both for individuals and for the culture at large.
As Kate Washington approached her 50th birthday, she was also contemplating ending a 23-year marriage in which she had become so focused on serving others that she’d lost her sense of self. To find herself again, she embarked on what she calls the 50 Dunks Project.
The Go to 50 different bodies of water—swimming holes, hot springs, rivers, lakes, creeks, and oceans. Immerse fully, head under water. Chronicle the dunk with a picture and a post. Complete the challenge by the time she turned 50.
Largely set in Kate’s native California but taking us as far as southern France, dunking us in the waters of the American River, Lake Tenaya, Big Chico Creek, the Rive Gard, and beyond, Kate shares the highlights of her 50 Dunk challenge--including dozens of fantastic, semi-secret places to swim.
Along the way, she combines self-examination, wry humor, lyrical description, and cultural critique to illuminate the factors that so often cause women to lose themselves. Midstream makes the case for embracing joy and pleasure as a necessary act of resistance, both for individuals and for the culture at large.
216 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 7, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 8, 2026
Disclosure: the author is a close friend, and I have been a fan of her work for many years.
Midstream is an outstanding memoir describing Washington's pursuit of who she wanted to be in the next era of her life through a project she called 50 Dunks: 50 swims in 50 bodies of water by her 50th birthday. After years of sacrifice, primarily through caregiving for her ill spouse and serving as the default parent for her kids, it was finally her turn to look inward and center her own joy and wants. Washington describes the end of her marriage with kindness, yet her pain, resentment, guilt, and frustrations are palpable. She writes about midlife with curiosity, vulnerability, and bravery, and I could not put this down once I started reading.
Even though I know the author well and heard about the 50 swims in real time, I was hanging onto her every word, eager to read more about her happiness and resilience. And I'm so inspired by Washington's swims and subsequent self-discovery that I'm thinking about what will be my own 50 by 50 project (which I should really embark upon soon, 3.5 years to go).
Midstream is an outstanding memoir describing Washington's pursuit of who she wanted to be in the next era of her life through a project she called 50 Dunks: 50 swims in 50 bodies of water by her 50th birthday. After years of sacrifice, primarily through caregiving for her ill spouse and serving as the default parent for her kids, it was finally her turn to look inward and center her own joy and wants. Washington describes the end of her marriage with kindness, yet her pain, resentment, guilt, and frustrations are palpable. She writes about midlife with curiosity, vulnerability, and bravery, and I could not put this down once I started reading.
Even though I know the author well and heard about the 50 swims in real time, I was hanging onto her every word, eager to read more about her happiness and resilience. And I'm so inspired by Washington's swims and subsequent self-discovery that I'm thinking about what will be my own 50 by 50 project (which I should really embark upon soon, 3.5 years to go).
August 10, 2026
What makes this book unique is the way she weaves the story of her life together with her experiences soaking in water. I admit I am a bit partial because she is from Chico, California, a place that is very dear to my heart. I also admire her deeply for the caregiver she was.
I found the statistics she shared about divorce particularly interesting: 70% of divorces are initiated by women, and among women with a college education, that number rises to 90%. Many of us carry guilt or uncertainty when it comes to divorce, so I appreciated her reminder of a simple but powerful truth: if you want to leave, that alone is enough. You don't need to justify your decision beyond knowing what is right for you.
I found the statistics she shared about divorce particularly interesting: 70% of divorces are initiated by women, and among women with a college education, that number rises to 90%. Many of us carry guilt or uncertainty when it comes to divorce, so I appreciated her reminder of a simple but powerful truth: if you want to leave, that alone is enough. You don't need to justify your decision beyond knowing what is right for you.
August 13, 2026
Easy to read and such an enjoyable memoir of a strong woman’s journey to full embodiment. Her true and poetic choice to commit to 50 dunks before her 50th birthday brings the themes and the story together in such a way that I felt connected to the author, but I also could see my own twists and turns flowing through the pages. As a fellow woman in her 50s I love the freedom so many women are finding in this era, and Kate captures that power beautifully.
August 18, 2026
3.5 stars. As Washington approaches her 50th birthday, she decides to swim in 50 different places. This is an account of those swimming holes while she contemplates ending her marriage and reflects on being a caretaker to her husband while he had cancer. The swimming hole aspect reminded me that I enjoy swimming best when it's about just getting wet and enjoying my surroundings and not about exercising. This is a fairly short audiobook that is not narrated by the author.
September 1, 2026
Part geography lesson and part mid-life divorce memoir, this title delves into the difficult and underappreciated world of motherhood and gender expectations. Kate Washington's story serves as a cautionary tale in letting your real self be swept away in favor of serving your family. I really enjoyed her beautiful imagery and words while she explained the complicated feelings of holding multiple identities in one person.
September 2, 2026
Fifty swimming holes, a few I have dunked in myself, and a difficult change at mid-life that was a few years in the making. I think it is honest and brave that she wrote the book after a previous book about being a caregiver for her husband. The author describes how life and needs change, or maybe how we finally realize what might have worked in the beginning is no longer working.
August 19, 2026
3.75 stars
September 7, 2026
If you are a woman in or approaching your fifties with the end of active motherhood and a feeling that your life got derailed sometime between girlhood and menopause, this book is going to speak to you. Excellent
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews