Twelve-year-old Sammy Lee could only use the public pool on Wednesdays—the one day a week it was open to people who weren’t white. Sammy wanted to be an Olympic champion and believed diving was his best chance. But his parents, Korean immigrants, had big dreams for their son. His father wanted him to become a doctor and didn’t support Sammy’s desire. Paula Yoo’s picture book biography chronicles how Sammy successfully pursued both his own and his father’s dreams over the next sixteen years, despite the racism that he regularly faced. When he wasn’t allowed to train regularly in the public pool, Sammy’s coach dug a sand pit in his yard and Sammy dived into that. He also studied hard through high school and college and entered medical school, diving and training on the side. When the 1940 Olympics were cancelled, Sammy was sure his own dream had ended. But at the age of 28, Dr. Sammy Lee qualified for the 1948 Olympics in Helsinski and went on to become an Olympic champion. Dom Lee’s sepia-toned illustrations accompany Yoo’s inspiring story. (Ages 7–10)

The inspirational true story of Sammy Lee, a Korean American who overcame discrimination to realize both his father's desire that he become a doctor and his own dream of becoming an Olympic champion diver.

On a summer day in 1932, twelve-year-old Sammy Lee watched enviously as divers catapulted into the public swimming pool. Sammy desperately wanted to try diving himself, but the Korean American boy -- like any person of color -- was only allowed to use the pool one day a week.

This discrimination did not weaken Sammy's newfound passion for diving, and soon he began a struggle between his dream of becoming an Olympic champion and his father's wish for him to become a doctor. Over sixteen years Sammy faced numerous challenges, but he overcame them all and fulfilled both his dream and his father's. In 1948 Dr. Sammy Lee dove into Olympic history. A matter of seconds after his final platform dive, the scores appeared and Sammy Lee became the first Asian American to win an Olympic gold medal.

Sammy Lee's story of determination and triumph sets an extraordinary example for anyone striving to fulfill a dream. Winner of Lee & Low's New Voices Award, Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds will inspire all who read it.