The inspirational story of a group of impoverished children who were transformed into champion swimmers. In 1937 an ordinary grammar school teacher on the island of Maui took a group of underprivileged children, mostly of Japanese ancestry, and in three short years transformed them into Olympic champions.

Eleven-year-old Mai has been contemplating revenge on her former best friend Zach ever since he humiliated her two years ago, but while spending time together for the summer, Mai has noticed a change in Zach, forcing her to decide if she can forgive him, even if she can never forget.

When twelve-year-old Waka's parents suspect she can't understand basic Japanese they speak to her, they make the drastic decision to send her to Tokyo to live for several months with her strict grandmother. Forced to say goodbye to her friends and what would have been her summer vacation, Waka is plucked from her straight-A-student life in rural Kansas and flown across the globe, where she faces the culture shock of a lifetime. In Japan, Waka struggles...

"The true story of science teacher Soichi Sakamoto, who formed a champion swim club consisting of the Hawaiian and Japanese children of impoverished sugarcane workers in the 1930s. Without a proper pool to swim in, Sakamoto trained his team in irrigation ditches and coached the kids to swim against the natural current, building up the swimmers' strength and endurance. The team overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles and surged onto the national...