false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172252781m/153727.jpg 153727 10 Just about every other person in the world seems like an unfocused dilettante compared to long-distance swimming legend Lynne Cox. Soon At the age of 14, after several years of training hard in pools and the open sea, she was swimming the 26 mile stretch from Catalina Island to the coast of California. A year after that, she surpassed a lifelong goal by not only swimming the English Channel but setting a new men's and women's record in the process. Rather than be satisfied, Cox aimed still higher, conquering the Cook Strait in New Zealand, the Strait of Magellan and, the Cape of Good Hope, none of which had been swum before. Being the first to swim the Bering Sea from Alaska to what was then the Soviet Union is perhaps Cox's most impressive achievement, requiring a phenomenal amount of physical strength and endurance to withstand the chilly waters and diplomatic persistence to gain permission from Gorbachev during the Cold War. <I>Swimming to Antarctica</I> is Cox's remarkably detailed account of her major swims and all that went right and wrong with them. While there are plenty of highs, as one might expect in a memoir by so impressive an athlete, all is not sunshine and roses for Cox. She overcomes extreme physical hardship, predatory sharks, and a swim through a sewage-soaked Nile while suffering from dysentery. There is plenty in <I>Swimming to Antarctica</I> to encourage even non-swimmers to work hard to achieve the seemingly impossible, but Cox, a skilled and highly readable writer, sticks to the swimming, leading the reader by example. For thrills and inspiration, it's hard to find anyone better than Lynne Cox. <I>--John Moe</I> 1180113 2004 Swimming to Antarctica: Tales of a Long-Distance Swimmer total:614|5:196|4:254|3:131|2:25|1:8| 614 2447 849 195 4 3 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Jan 25 15:40:01 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 25 15:50:07 -0800 2008
What's more, she didn't make a grand production of it; probably wisely ass...more...]]> 2 2 false false Wed Apr 30 12:58:20 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 30 13:00:26 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Sep 11 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 28 21:57:27 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 11 12:46:26 -0700 2008 the Shackleton and Endurance books, even the one by Mrs Chippy:

http://www.purr-n-fur.org.uk/famous/chip...

It's that stiff-upper-lip Britis...more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Jan 04 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Apr 30 08:25:26 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 30 08:26:05 -0700 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Feb 05 09:24:59 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 05 09:24:59 -0800 2009 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 observati...

more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Sep 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 14 11:59:17 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 23 09:03:41 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Jun 23 15:14:21 -0700 2008 Wed Feb 13 14:00:07 -0800 2008 Mon Jun 23 15:14:21 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Thu Aug 16 19:47:49 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 16 19:49:54 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Fri Sep 28 09:56:01 -0700 2007 Fri Sep 28 14:27:49 -0700 2007 4 1 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 10 08:44:56 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 10 08:46:06 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Tue Aug 04 13:17:24 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 04 13:23:07 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1999 Sun Jun 15 04:55:11 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 15 04:56:46 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Fri Oct 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 21 08:37:09 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 09 12:13:11 -0700 2009
This book is totally my kind of book, along the lines of "Ultra Marath...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sun Jan 13 21:29:26 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 13 21:31:23 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jan 04 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 04 13:55:06 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 04 13:59:32 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Nov 24 08:24:44 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 24 08:24:44 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Oct 19 10:11:28 -0700 2008 Sun Oct 19 10:19:39 -0700 2008
I really thought I was going to hate this book...I saw her on 60 minutes ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Aug 17 02:30:31 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 02:34:13 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jul 15 09:22:26 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 15 09:34:29 -0700 2008 Lynne Cox has a way of making you feel like you are with her on these record breaking adventures. When she described not being able to complete her swim...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jul 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 17 02:48:57 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 17 02:55:04 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=153727