Welcome to the home of Gwen Rivers and Owen Park
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Gwen Rivers is a spirited young swimmer with a fearless smile and a heart full of determination. Recognizable by her bright red ponytail and signature green goggles, Gwen is always ready to dive into new challenges. Whether she’s preparing for her first swim meet or learning to trust herself on the starting block, Gwen represents bravery, perseverance, and the excitement of trying something new. Her journey shows young readers that confidence grows through practice, courage, and believing in yourself.
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Owen Park is the steady, encouraging presence every swimmer needs. With his stopwatch, clipboard, and calm enthusiasm, Owen supports swimmers from the pool deck, cheering them on and keeping everything running smoothly. He models responsibility, patience, and teamwork, showing kids that success in sports comes not only from effort in the water, but also from kindness, organization, and helping others succeed.
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​Together, the Gwen Rivers and Owen Park books provide engaging, age-appropriate stories that help children navigate new experiences with confidence. Through relatable characters and swim-centered adventures, the books promote resilience, sportsmanship, self-belief, and the value of supportive mentors. Perfect for young readers, families, classrooms, and swim programs, these stories turn everyday pool moments into meaningful lessons—one splash at a time.
Meet the Characters — and the Stories That Inspire Them
S.E. Deacs presents an exciting book series following Gwen Rivers and Owen Park. Their adventures into competitive swimming not only entertain, but also inspire children to pursue their dreams. Each story highlights the values of teamwork, perseverance, and the joy of swimming, ensuring a captivating experience for young readers everywhere.
Explore the Series below
Nine-year-old Gwen Rivers loves the pool—but joining the squad means more than fast arms and lucky socks. With Coach Jess’s calm tips, Lily and Bea at her side, and little brother Ben’s ridiculous “shark face” in the gallery, Gwen learns to breathe through nerves, trust the glide, and finish what she starts. First races, first PBs, and a relay dream
The First Swim Meet is a warm, funny, emotionally honest story about confidence, perseverance, friendship, and the small victories that make a swimmer—not the stopwatch. Perfect for early chapter-book readers, classroom libraries, swim families, and anyone who remembers what it felt like to try something big for the first time.
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School is back, and Gwen Rivers is already sinking.
Summer was all about swimming, laughter, and shouting “Shark Queen!” from the gallery. But now September has arrived—with fractions, homework, and timetables that seem designed to drown her.
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Between Lily’s colour-coded Master Plans, Bea’s perfect notes, Owen’s effortless talent, and Alfie’s unstoppable biscuit obsession, Gwen can barely keep her head above water. Training is tougher, school is busier, and even mornings have become enemies (especially when Lily insists on pre-dawn swims).
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Every day feels like a relay between classes, practice, and panic. Fractions don’t add up, tumble-turns turn into disasters, and her brother Ben’s chaotic cheerleading isn’t exactly helping. Gwen starts to wonder: what if she can’t do it all? What if she’s not cut out for this?
But courage, Gwen’s learning, isn’t about never failing. It’s about choosing one thing to get right—even when everything else feels wrong.
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Owen Park is the boy who always wins.
Fastest in the pool. Quickest in class. The kid everyone expects to shine.
But when a secret shoulder injury threatens everything he’s worked for, Owen’s perfect world slips out of his control. Stuck on the sidelines and terrified of falling behind, he must discover who he is when he can’t be the best.
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With the help of the Stopwatch Club — chaotic Gwen, loyal Alfie, logical Lily, and thoughtful Bea — Owen learns that strength isn’t about speed. It’s about balance, courage, and finding your own pace.
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A heartfelt, funny, and uplifting story about friendship, pressure, and discovering the power of slowing down.
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The Willowbank Swimming Centre is bursting with tinsel, fairy lights, and festive chaos… until the unthinkable happens.
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The Christmas Cup — the sparkling trophy at the heart of the annual Christmas Swim Meet — has VANISHED.
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Owen Park is determined not to let the biggest event of the year be cancelled. With his charity swim on the line, he teams up with Gwen, Lily, Bea, and mince-pie-loving Alfie to crack the case.
But clues are getting messier… glitter is everywhere… and even the Santa hat won’t stop singing.
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With time running out and suspects piling up, can Owen untangle the crumbs, tinsel trails, and very suspicious reindeer inflatables before Christmas spirit sinks completely?
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This is a JOURNAL not a book of Fiction
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My First Competitive Swim Season is a practical and heart-centered swim journal designed to help young swimmers and their families navigate the exciting world of competitive swimming with confidence, organization, and positivity.
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Whether your child is swimming their very first meet or beginning their first full swim season, this guided swim journal helps parents and swimmers track practices, record swim meets, reflect on progress, and celebrate every milestone—both in and out of the pool.
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Unlike basic swim log books that focus only on times and laps, this swimming journal emphasizes effort, confidence, learning, and emotional growth. It combines easy-to-use practice reflection pages, detailed swim meet trackers, parent notes, goal-setting pages, and end-of-season keepsake reflections to create a meaningful record of your swimmer’s journey.
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Parents will appreciate the swim meet organization tools, packing checklists, glossary of swimming terms, and space to record coach feedback, while swimmers will enjoy kid-friendly prompts that help them reflect on how practice felt, what they did well, and what they want to work on next.