Brisbane in the fifties. The Fingleton kids didn't have much, but Tony always knew he could be someone special. He just didn't know how. Until his father Harold realised how fast Tony and his kid brother could swim, and started training them to beat the world.

But when Harold's past comes back to haunt him it's Tony who has to bear the brunt of his drunken rages.

Swimming Upstream tells how he learnt to keep trying despite everything. It is the inspirational memoir of a boy who found the determination to succeed.