WINNER OF THE CHARLES TYRWHITT SPORTS BOOK AWARDS
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024
SHORTLISTED FOR THE HATCHARDS AND BIOGRAPHERS' CLUB FIRST BIOGRAPHY PRIZE

'Poetic, candid and utterly compelling' FREYA BROMLEY
'Absolutely remarkable' LYNN BARBER
'Reads with the tension of a thriller, illuminating the the struggle and sacrifice of elite sport' CATHY RENTZENBRINK
'An embodied water odyssey' LIDIA YUKNAVITCH

This is not a story about making history. This is the story of walking away from it all.

Rebecca Achieng Ajulu-Bushell was once a double British Champion and the first Black woman ever to swim for Great Britain. As her body and mind are sharpened through gruelling training, press scrutiny and the harshness of adolescence, Rebecca charts her career's ascent and her singular love of the water, before explaining why she walked away from it all.

A compulsive and unforgettable study of intensity, These Heavy Black Bones meditates on Blackness, identity and the ecstasy of peak physical performance, and lays bare the pressures within the swimming world.

"[These Heavy Black Bones] documents the dedication demanded of a young athlete; the sacrifice and strain that comes with competing at the highest of levels. It's vulnerable and exposing" - * Observer *

"In a searing new memoir, former champion swimmer Rebecca Achieng Ajulu-Bushell reveals the true cost of excellence" - * Vogue *

"As a teenage swimmer, Ajulu-Bushell realized that being exceptional came with a cost. Struggling with the pressure she felt to succeed in a predominately white sport, she quit while training for the 2012 Olympics" - * TIME *

"Speaks about the intensity of training and the pressure of often being the only Black woman poolside" - * Women's Health *