Swimming to Antarctica

Lynne Cox

At 14, Lynne Cox swam 26 miles from Catalina Island to the California mainland; at 15 and 16, she broke the men's and women's world records for swimming the English Channel — a 33-mile crossing; at 18, she swam the 20-mile Cook Strait between North and South Islands of New Zealand; she was the first to swim the Strait of Magellan, the most treacherous 3-mile stretch of water in the world; she was first to swim the Bering Strait from Alaska to Siberia, thereby opening the U.S.-Soviet border for the first time in 48 years; and the first to swim the Cape of Good Hope (a shark emerged from the kelp, its jaws wide open, and was shot as it headed straight for her). And finally she is the first person to have swum a mile in 0 degree water in Antarctica.
Lynne Cox writes about swimming the way Saint-Exupery wrote about flying, and one sees how swimming, like flying, can stretch the wings of the spirit. Lynne is an extraordinary achiever, but it is her enthusiasm and warmth, along with her respect for others, that come through above all in her writing, which is as easy and natural as her swimming ability. 'Swimming to Antarctica' is thrilling, modest, vivid and lyrical, an inspiring account of a life of aspiration and adventure.