cox, lynne

Memoir from swimmer Lynne Cox, who swam the English Channel at age fifteen and also swam for twenty-five minutes in water off the coast of Antarctica without a wetsuit. Discusses research done on Cox's unique abilities to endure freezing temperatures and her shocking diagnosis of atrial fibrillation that forced her to reconcile with her own mortality and physical frailty.

Lynne Cox is an open-water swimmer and elite athlete who is able to endure cold water temperatures, without a wetsuit, that would kill others. She has broken many world records and has participated in research at the University of London as scientists tried to make sense of her extraordinary capabilities. In the midst of all her accomplishments she cared for both of her elderly parents, both of whom were ill for a long time. When they passed away in quick succession, followed by the death of her beloved Labrador retriever, Lynne was in shock from loss and loneliness and was literally suffering from broken heart syndrome. Diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (AFib), the athlete who could do it all had to learn how to deal with her illness, her recovery, and her slow path back to health.

The author explains what happened when she was on a training swim in the ocean off the coast of Santa Catalina Island when she suddenly realized a baby gray whale was swimming beside her. Seventeen at the time, Cox knew she must help the young calf find its mother because if it followed her to shore, it would die.

Distance swimmer Lynne Cox describes the challenges of swimming across the English Channel, the Bering Strait, the Strait of Magellan, Cook Strait in New Zealand, and in the cold waters of the Antarctic.

Distance swimmer Lynne Cox describes her emotional and spiritual need to swim and about the mythical act of swimming itself, and chronicles some of her more memorable swims.

The author describes how, while training for a long-distance swim off the coast of California, she encountered a baby gray whale that had become separated from its mother and had been following her instead, and her efforts to find the baby's mother.