When I started open water swimming, Melissa told me that I absolutely had to read this book. She was right.
The author, Lynne Cox, has completed a open water swims in the most extreme conditions imaginable. A competitive swimmer since childhood, Cox switched to open water swimming as a teenager, at the age of 14 she swam the Catalina Channel and then went on to swim the English Channel at 15, one of the youngest swimmers to make the crossing. She has completed all of her swims using the Channel Swimming Association rules, which means that she swims only in a suit, cap and goggles, no wet suit. This includes swimming in the Bering Sea and waters off Antarctica.
My first read through the book I was somewhat frustrated with the repetition of the language that Cox uses when describing her swims. Then I began writing about my own swim experiences and ran straight into the limitations of my own vocabulary when trying to describe the feel and temperature of the water.
I would recommend Swimming to Antarctica for open water swimmers, athletes and anyone interested in expanding the limits of the human body. Cox is an inspiration.
