A Different Stroke for Coach Horowitz

BY ROBIN JOVANOVICH

 

Following her passions was never a hurdle for Ann Searle Horowitz, who from an early age was winning swim meets and writing prizes.

 

After years of coaching swimming and writing short stories, she sat down and wrote a young adult fantasy adventure, “Trident”, which was published late last year.

 

Her protagonist is Richard Tomlin, a 12-year-old competitive swimmer whose dream is to be the youngest ever on his YMCA team to qualify for the Junior Olympics. But his plans go awry when his new goggles transport him instead to the Lost City of Atlantis in the middle of a meet.

 

Like many aspiring authors, Horowitz followed Mark Twain’s advice to “write what you know.” She said, “You can’t help but pull things from your own life into the writing process.”

 

Without giving away the plot, Richard’s twin sister Lucy joins him “under the sea” and they battle their way back to the present.

 

“I love mythology and my sons, who are now almost 21, were huge fans of the fantasy-adventure genre,” said Horowitz, who also has a 23-year-old daughter.

 

In addition to lots of twists and turns and dark magic, “Trident” is rich in encouraging words. “As a swim coach and parent,” shared Horowitz, “I love that the story enables sharing two of my favorite tools for success in sports and life: positive affirmations and visualization.” She worked in advertising, on the marketing side, before deciding to try the creative side and went back to school to study at the School of Visual Arts.

 

An All-American swimmer in high school in Darien, Horowitz was Head Swim Coach at the New Rochelle YMCA before coming to the Rye YMCA a year ago with the goal of teaching mostly younger swimmers in the WaveRyeders program.

 

Having spent an inordinate number of hours on pool decks, where Horowitz is pleased to report that electronic devices are still banned, she came up with a novel way for swimmers to pass the time: an Olympic trivia contest. The winners won a copy of none other than “Trident”.

 

Loving everything about writing, “other than the endless editing”, Horowitz is now hard at work on a sequel.

 

“Trident” is available at Arcade Books and in eBook, paperback, and hardcover from Amazon.com.