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12th out of 46 books
—
99 voters
Swimming to Antarctica: Tales of a Long-Distance Swimmer
Now in paperback, with photos and maps added especially for this new edition, here is the acclaimed life story of a woman whose drive and determination inspire everyone she touches.
Lynne Cox started swimming almost as soon as she could walk. By age sixteen, she had broken all records for swimming the English Channel. Her daring eventually led her to the Bering Strait, wher...more
Lynne Cox started swimming almost as soon as she could walk. By age sixteen, she had broken all records for swimming the English Channel. Her daring eventually led her to the Bering Strait, wher...more
Paperback, 384 pages
Published
March 7th 2005
by Mariner Books
(first published 2004)
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When I first heard of the book I was sure the title was figurative and poetic, but it turns out to be quite literal: the author is a distance swimmer who set her goggled sights on the Antarctica and made it happen.
What's more, she didn't make a grand production of it; probably wisely assuming that the experience in itself would bring its own grandness. Instead of gearing up in the latest advancement of wetsuit technology or other innovation of the boom in extreme athletic consumerism, Cox kept t...more
What's more, she didn't make a grand production of it; probably wisely assuming that the experience in itself would bring its own grandness. Instead of gearing up in the latest advancement of wetsuit technology or other innovation of the boom in extreme athletic consumerism, Cox kept t...more
You'll like this book if you're a swimmer, an athlete, or need some encouragement to chase your dreams. While I consider myself an athlete (somedays) I was lost at times, not feeling any inward affection for the character to reach her goals, when they were goals simply to be achieved, ie, had no other purpose. But that being said, it was fascinating to see how her body adapted to the extreme tests she put it through, and to see her survive a trip to Egypt.
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At an early age Lynne Cox discovered that she not only loved to swim, but that she was especially adept at swimming in frigid water. At the age of nine she chose to continue swimming in the icy water of her New Hampshire team’s pool during a hail storm rather than participate in group exercises indoors. Her family moved to California so that she could train as a speed swimmer. During a team race across the Catalina Channel, Cox discovered that she excelled at long distance ocean swimming. After...more
I agree with another reviewer -- if I could give this book 3.5 stars, I would. Lynne Cox is an amazing inspiration -- she's the kind of woman you want to have dinner with. She's interesting, she's driven and she's experienced a lot more than most people will in their lives. She's swam in waters off Alaska, in a lake in Iceland, a filthy Nile River and of course, near Antarctica. Her drive, internal motivation, and overall zest for life were amazing.
I enjoyed learning about the early part of her...more
I enjoyed learning about the early part of her...more
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This is a remarkable memoir by the record-breaking, long-distance, cold and/or open water swimmer who, at sixteen, achieved her lifetime goal of setting a new world record for an English Channel swim. She then went on to swim cold, open waters around the world, sometimes having to shove icebergs out of her way!
When I mentioned the book to some friends, they assumed the title was a metaphor for an inspirational theme; when I explained what Lynne Cox had done, they were amazed.
She does not use a...more
When I mentioned the book to some friends, they assumed the title was a metaphor for an inspirational theme; when I explained what Lynne Cox had done, they were amazed.
She does not use a...more
This long distance swimmer is amazing. When she was just eight, swimming lap after lap on a frigid hail storming day in an outdoor pool, a woman commented to her "someday you'll swim the English Channel." The comment stuck in Lynne Cox's mind and inspired her. At just fifteen years old, she swam the Channel faster than any man or woman of any age had ever swum it. She went on to swim many other record breaking and/or never attempted ocean swims, including her successful Bering Strait swim (betwe...more
Swimming to Antarctica
By Lynne Cox
323 Pages
Swimming to Antarctica is an absolutely amazing book. It’s incredibly inspirational. Lynne takes you on a journey starting in New Hampshire when she was merely twelve years old and shows you some of her most amazing swims. I’ve never found swimming to be overly exciting and she showed me the water through different eyes. Her absolute enthusiasm is infectious. Being able to see Lynne’s experiences through her eyes also helps you to see how humble she re...more
By Lynne Cox
323 Pages
Swimming to Antarctica is an absolutely amazing book. It’s incredibly inspirational. Lynne takes you on a journey starting in New Hampshire when she was merely twelve years old and shows you some of her most amazing swims. I’ve never found swimming to be overly exciting and she showed me the water through different eyes. Her absolute enthusiasm is infectious. Being able to see Lynne’s experiences through her eyes also helps you to see how humble she re...more
As this inspiring memoir makes clear, swimming is Cox's life. "Cox is not just in the sea," notes the Rocky Mountain News, "she is one with it." Cox offers intimate glimpses into her mind as she conquers icy (Antarctic) or rat-strewn (Nile) waters--her doubts, joys, and observations of unfamiliar surroundings. It's a compelling narrative, but critics disagree on a few points. Is her writing poetic or reportorial? Does she offer a complete or one-sided picture of her life? Where's the larger hist
...more
I can't for the life of me remember where I heard about this book, but I apparently put it on hold at the library as soon as I heard about it. When the email came that it was in, I was a little confused. But I gamely went and got it and started reading.
Side note: people really shouldn't wait so long past the library due date to bring books back. It confuses the next people in line who forgot they requested it.
Lynne Cox was born in 1957 and has been swimming pretty much all her life. She discover...more
Side note: people really shouldn't wait so long past the library due date to bring books back. It confuses the next people in line who forgot they requested it.
Lynne Cox was born in 1957 and has been swimming pretty much all her life. She discover...more
For someone who is not entirely enthralled with non-fiction, this was one novel that definitely moved me and inspired me in many ways. The writing was not top of the line, but when can a non-writer write a book with the tenacity and grace as some of the finest authors in the world? Exactly. So, going in thinking that this book is just going to be a good read and incredible, is the right frame of mind to be in. Being a swimmer, and someone who aspires to great heights, this is almost essential re...more
Jun 23, 2008
Chad
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone who has open-water experience or lofty goals of achieving an open-water experience.
Recommended to Chad by:
Emily Scott
Lynne Cox was a very ambitious child and I can't recall ever reading of someone more couragious at such a young age. The writing isn't stellar, but I think that helps to portray the honesty that comes out of this book--like she has been holding it in for years and now all she has left are the essential details.
There are many of those essential details left.
There are many of those essential details left.
1 like · like · see review
Oct 14, 2010
Janet
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
open water swimmers, anyone seeking inspiration
I had to give this book five stars as I am in total awe of Lynne Cox. Before cracking the book I assumed that the title was a metaphor - no, she actually swam in Anarctica and get this: she swam in just a speedo as in "look Ma, NO WETSUIT!" Her ability to withstand subfreezing water temps underscores that she is obviously a unique physical specimen but more compelling is the mental toughness and singleness of purpose she displays in the pursuit of her open water swimming goals.
If I had one crit...more
If I had one crit...more
If the entire book read like the Prologue, titled A Cold Day in August, the reader could simply not put it down. This piece, published previously in the New Yorker, puts the reader in the freezing cold water of the Bearing Strait struggling to swim through the dense fog--wow! For me it evoked the treatment Sebastian Junger gave drowning in The Perfect Storm: a visceral experience conveyed so deftly that the reader becomes the subject struggling to survive.
Overall, I enjoyed learning how Lynne C...more
Overall, I enjoyed learning how Lynne C...more
Apr 14, 2012
Stacia
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Fans of adventure/outdoor non-fiction
Shelves:
2012
I'd really give this 3.5.
I (finally) finished "Swimming to Antarctica: Tales of a Long-Distance Swimmer" by Lynne Cox. Even though I enjoyed it, for some reason, I feel like it took me a long time to read it.
I was thoroughly swept away reading about Lynne Cox's swims in rivers, lakes, & oceans around the world. Wow. Her swimming feats are totally amazing. I do wish there would have been a few maps in the book to detail some of the bodies of water where she was swimming. Also, there were a f...more
I (finally) finished "Swimming to Antarctica: Tales of a Long-Distance Swimmer" by Lynne Cox. Even though I enjoyed it, for some reason, I feel like it took me a long time to read it.
I was thoroughly swept away reading about Lynne Cox's swims in rivers, lakes, & oceans around the world. Wow. Her swimming feats are totally amazing. I do wish there would have been a few maps in the book to detail some of the bodies of water where she was swimming. Also, there were a f...more
Aug 11, 2011
Mssuzyq623
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
swimmers only
Recommended to Mssuzyq623 by:
Peter McDevitt, Jr
This is not the type of book I would ever read. But since my father-in-law, a University swim coach and avid reader was so impressed with it, I thought I would give it a try. I suppose it is "good" if you are a swimmer, but it is not really a "story". I was less interested in the logistics of her setting up her swims, than I would be in the relationship she had with her parents, if she had a boyfriend EVER, did she have a job or a home? Or just live with her parents while planning these swims. T...more
Being a swimmer myself, I really enjoyed reading this book. The beginning was really engaging how she talked about her childhood and how her passion for long distance swimming grew. She was raised in Boston till she was about 8 and then she moved to California where her swimming career really began. She joined a long distance swimming club where she first crossed the Catalina Island Channel with them when she was a teenager. She has also swam the English Channel, Cook Strait, Straits of Magellan...more
The author is completely crazy - she is physically capable of keeping her body temperature high enough to stay submerged in water at 32 degrees for an hour. But as a distance swimmer I can understand her drive to a disturbing degree. If you are an endurance athlete of any kind, then this is an inspiring story.
Sep 28, 2007
Deb Salzer
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone who likes stories of kick-ass female athletes
Open water swimming in 32 degree water is not for pansies. Lynne Cox is a tough-as-nails swimmer with a passion for spreading peace through her coast to coast swims. Inspirational story. I've done a couple open water swims and this story makes me want to do more! Watch out Lake Superior...
Lynne Cox is amazing. This fast-reading story is all about her swimming exploits, starting from when she first swims through a storm during a several-hour swimming lesson, to swimming the English Channel to swimming in 30-something degree water in Antarctica. It's a great testament to always testing physical boundaries, and it was pretty inspiring.
That being said, it sometimes felt a little too simple, like things will always work out if you just try really hard. Even though she doesn't succeed...more
That being said, it sometimes felt a little too simple, like things will always work out if you just try really hard. Even though she doesn't succeed...more
The question that immediately comes to mind when reviewing this books is: Would the non-swimmer find it interesting? I think so, if only because Lynne Cox tells gripping tales. Battling dysentery and dehydration and the stench and the "heavy, thick brown muck" of the Nile ... lost in the nighttime fog in the shipping lane between Catalina Island and the Southern California mainland ... and many more. But what I really loved about this book was Cox. She's generous in honoring the people who helpe...more
Lynne Cox broke several records in the swimming world. She knew she wanted to swim in the ocean as a young girl, and worked steadily towards this goal. She was on a team with the youngest swimmer to cross the Catalina Channel, she broke the world records for swimming the English channel - twice!, she swam across many channels and seas that had never been crossed before. She was a research subject on how the human body handles cold water temperatures, in an effort to achieve her greatest dream, s...more
True autobiography of "Lance Armstrong with body fat." This woman has swum some of the coldest, most dangerous, and longest distances of any swimmer ever. AMAZING. Fairly well-told, too.
While an inspiring memoir of one woman's lifelong passion of long-distance swimming, especially in cold waters, this novel does suffer from one man essential flaw - the author is not a very prolific writer. However, it is amazing to read of Cox's swimming achievements when you realize she only swims with three things: her swimsuit, her cap and her goggles. And her swims tend to occur in frigid temperatures, as the title suggests. So while the writing is distracting because it's not the best, the...more
don’t usually like autobiographies, but this story is really remarkable. It’s the story of Lynne Cox, the swimmer who swam from Alaska to Russia. I remember reading about her in the paper when she made the swim, but I didn’t know that was just one of her many incredible swims. She set a world record for swimming the English Channel when she was 16, she was the first person to swim the Strait of Magellan, around the Cape of Good Hope, and between the north and south islands of New Zealand. She d...more
There's absolutely no explaining why I picked this book off the library shelf and there's even less reason why I should have loved it. I'm not a swimmer, I'm not into polar bear plunge, I'm not even an athlete of any kind... but I really really loved it! It's about perseverance and listening to yourself rather than other people who tell you you can't do things. It's also inspiring that Lynn found her contribution to this world in swimming of all things. Shows you have to find your passion and fi...more
This was a fascinating read, especially since the author swam a mile in 32° water without a wetsuit, when I can barely crawl into 67° sheets without shivering and carrying on. Lynne Cox is hugely inspiring, and I never knew that her swim across the Bering Strait was so influential in improving relations between the US and the Soviet Union. I only gave the book 3 stars because though I understand how significant each swim was for Lynne, it ultimately became repetitive, reading about swim after sw...more
A person who took on challenges and showed amazing endurance and test of character to persist with a goal.
1 like · like · see review
I loved this book. It is a story of a young girl who works extremely hard to live her dreams. these dreams are all, coincidentally, long distance swims. I say coincidentally because it is a book about living your dreams. Her dreams happen to be distance swimming (your dreams may vary) It is a very positive book which is rewarding for what is written as much as what is not written. There is nothing petty, dark or evil described. There are no vampires, zombies, serial killers, aliens, Nazis or eve...more
What a woman. I was blown away by chapter two when she recalls swimming the English Channel as a teenage in a record breaking time. Now that is someone born with the right genes but also to have the drive to do cold water outdoor swims for hours at a time so young. Then 30 years later to not only survive in the cold waters of the antarctic but to be able to swim for over 20 minutes. Interesting sections on the scientific monitoring that took place on her swims. She was quite the experiment on ho...more
This book was incredible. Lynne is an amazing athlete and writes about her swims in great detail. She is very articulate in describing her motivations, her thoughts and the challenges for her swims. I could really get a feeling for the sensations she felt during her swims. She actually swam in waters around Antarctica with just a swim suit, goggles and swim cap!!! This was just one of her many amazing swims. Lynne starting breaking records for long-distance swimming at a young age and her determ...more
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I especially liked the last paragraph.
Jun 11, 2008 10:58am
Oct 14, 2010 12:54pm