Audiences cheer Lynne's heroic story and marvel at the vital lessons
learned from it. Blessed with few of the standard tools of athletic
prowess, Lynne has relied on gritty dedication and an indomitable
spirit to accomplish feats that are nearly unimaginable.
- At age 15, Lynne broke the men's and women's records for her 33 miles swim of the English Channel
- At age 17, she shattered the men's record for swimming the Catalina Channel
- First woman to swim the Cook Strait in New Zealand, between the north and south islands
- She was the first person to swim Skagerrak, between Norway and Sweden
- First person {note: forgive the frequent use of the term “first” but there's no way around it} to swim the shark-infested waters around Cape of Good Hope, Africa
- In 1987, she swam the Bering Strait, the channel that forms the boundary between Alaska and Siberia, opening the US-Soviet border for the first time in 48 years
- First to swim the Strait of Magellan, reputedly the most treacherous 3 mile stretch of water in the world
- First person to swim Lake Titicaca (altitude: 12,500 feet) from Bolivia to Peru
- In 2002, she was the first person to swim more than a mile in 32 degree water to the ice-bound shore of Antarctica, where she was greeted by a flock of penguins
And that's just the stuff that made the headlines. . . Audiences are equally inspired by the parts of Lynne's story not recorded in the record books:
- Being considered too plump to participate in sports (in point of fact, her female trait of evenly distributed body fat has been a key to her success)
- Training her body to tolerate many hours of freezing temperatures that might kill a normal person in a matter of minutes
- Persevering for 11 years in order to overcome a mountain of bureaucratic objections to her Bering Strait swim
- Her almost mystical ability to blend the functions of mind, body, and spirit
Named one of the notable
women of 2003 by Glamour Magazine, Lynn Cox has been featured on 60 Minutes,
profiled in People and Biography, praised by Oliver Sacks and President
Ronald Reagan, inducted into the Swimming Hall of Fame, and interviewed
on numerous radio and TV programs.
Oh, yes. In answer to everyone's most pressing question: doesn't Lynne
feel the sharp bite of intense cold? Lynne replies, “It’s not that I don’t feel it; it’s just that I don’t focus on it.”
“A portrait of rare and relentless drive.” Sports Illustrated
“A triumph of positive outlook, hefty preparation and raw courage.” The Economist
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