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Swimming to Antarctica: Tales of a Long-Distance Swimmerby Lynne Cox
Staff Pick
The first to swim the Strait of Magellan, the Bering Strait, and the Cape of Good Hope, Lynne Cox, from the age of fourteen, began forcing the world's best long-distance swimmers to reconsider what might be possible in the water. Dive in and brace yourself for a thrilling athletic adventure. Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:
Lynne Cox trained hard from age nine, working with an Olympic coach, swimming five to twelve miles each day in the Pacific. At age eleven, she swam even when hail made the water "like cold tapioca pudding" and was told she would one day swim the English Channel. Four years later (not yet out of high school) she broke the men's and women's world records for the Channel swim. In 1987, she swam the Bering Strait from America to the Soviet Union; a feat that, according to Gorbachev, helped diminish tensions between Russia and the United States. Lynne Cox's relationship with the water is almost mystical: she describes swimming as flying, and remembers swimming at night through flocks of flying fish the size of mockingbirds, remembers being escorted by a pod of dolphins that came to her off New Zealand. She has a photographic memory of her swims. She tells us how she conceived of, planned, and trained for each, and re-creates for us the experience of swimming (almost) unswimmable bodies of water, including her most recent astonishing one-mile swim to Antarctica in thirty-two-degree water without a wet suit. She tells us how, through training and by taking advantage of her naturally plump physique, she is able to create more heat in the water than she loses. Lynne Cox has swum the Mediterranean, the three-mile Strait of Messina, under the ancient bridges of Kunning Lake, below the old summer palace of the emperor of China in Beijing. Breaking records no longer interests her. She writes about the ways in which these swims instead became vehicles for personal goals, how she sees herself as the lone swimmer among the waves, pitting her courage against the odds, drawn to dangerous places and treacherous waters that, since ancient times, have challenged sailors in ships. Review:"Even though readers know she survived to tell the tale, it's a thrilling, awesome and well-written story." Publishers Weekly Review:"An awesome study in immersion from long-distance swimmer Cox....An otherworldly existence brought hugely to life." Kirkus Reviews Review:"Her wide-eyed idealism may seem a little corny at first, but by the end we're rooting for her, wondering if brave and mostly solitary acts...don't bring us together after all." Booklist Review:"[Cox has] done things the rest of us only imagine — and she's written a book that helps us to imagine them with clarity and wonder." The Boston Globe Review:"More than the story of the greatest open-water swimmer, Swimming to Antarctica is a portrait of rare and relentless drive....Gripping." Sports Illustrated Review:"A tale of remarkable physical prowess and heart." Vogue Review:"Even a cursory read leaves one shivering for a warm towel." Entertainment Weekly Review:"A triumph of a positive outlook, hefty preparation, and raw courage." The Economist Synopsis:Newly Illustrated with Photos and Maps Throughout. Here is the joyful, inspirational memoir of swimmer Lynne Cox. By age sixteen, she had broken all records for English Channel swims, so she set her goals even higher: She became the first to swim the Strait of Magellan, narrowly escaped a shark attack off the Cape of Good Hope, and was cheered across the twenty-mile Cook Strait of New Zealand by dolphins. Her daring eventually led her to the thirty-eight-degree waters of the Bering Strait, which she crossed in her usual outfit — just a swimsuit, cap, and goggles. She has even swum a mile in the iceberg-choked waters of the Antarctic. With a poet's eye for detail, Cox shares the beauty of her time in the water in this new classic of sports memoir. Synopsis:Now in paperback, with photos and maps added especially for this new edition, this sports memoir is the acclaimed life story of long-distance swimmer Lynne Cox, a woman whose drive and determination inspire everyone she touches. High school & older.
Synopsis:Newly Illustrated with Photos and Maps Throughout (format to separate this phrase from copy)
CITATION: Here is the joyful, inspirational memoir of swimmer Lynne Cox. By age sixteen, she had broken all records for English Channel swims, so she set her goals even higher: She became the first to swim the Strait of Magellan, narrowly escaped a shark attack off the Cape of Good Hope, and was cheered across the twenty-mile Cook Strait of New Zealand by dolphins. Her daring eventually led her to the thirty-eight-degree waters of the Bering Strait, which she crossed in her usual outfit — just a swimsuit, cap, and goggles. She has even swum (LYNN - right verb??) a mile in the iceberg-choked waters of the Antarctic. With a poet's eye for detail, Cox shares the beauty of her time in the water in this new classic of sports memoir. "[Cox has] done things the rest of us only imagine--and she's written a book that helps us to imagine them with clarity and wonder."-- The Boston Globe "More than the story of the greatest open-water swimmer, Swimming to Antarctica is a portrait of rare and relentless drive. . . .Gripping." — Sports Illustrated "A tale of remarkable physical prowess and heart." — Vogue "Fetching and pitch-perfect . . . Full of perilous, preposterous-if-they-weren't-true scenes." - Outside Magazine "An instant classic of adventure writing." — Minneapolis Star-Tribune "The only things more impressive than her heroics are her magnanimous spirit and ability to bring people together." — Miami Herald "Even a cursory read leaves one shivering for a warm towel." — Entertainment Weekly "A triumph of a positive outlook, hefty preparation, and raw courage." — The Economist "So compelling and immediate that even a non-swimmer can almost feel as if he'd been a participant." — Philadelphia Inquirer LYNNE COX has set records all over the world for open-water swimming. She was named Los Angeles Times Woman of the Year, inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2000, and honored with a lifetime achievement award from the University of California--Santa Barbara. She lives in Los Alamitos, California. Thrilling , vivid, and lyrical, an inspiring account of a life of aspiration and adventure. (Oliver Sacks)
CITATION: Gripping reading...Swimming to Antaritica is a portrait of rare and relentless drive. (Sports Illustrated)
CITATION: "All of [her] superhuman escapades are vividly detailed in Cox's absorbing memoir." (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
CITATION: "An absorbing, well-written memoir. The paperback edition is even better than the hardcover, with more maps and photographs." (Portland Oregonian)About the AuthorLynne Cox has set records all over the world for open-water swimming. She was named Los Angeles Times Woman of the Year, inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2000, honored with a lifetime achievement award from the University of California-Santa Barbara, and worked for six years as a research librarian in Orange County. She lives in Los Alamitos, California. Table of ContentsPrologue: A Cold Day in August 1 Beginnings 7 Leaving Home 14 Open Water 27 Twenty-six Miles Across the Sea 40 English Channel 57 White Cliffs of Dover 69 Homecoming 95 Invitation to Egypt 102 Lost in the Fog 124 Cook Strait, New Zealand 134 Human Research Subject 146 The Strait of Magellan 160 Around the Cape of Good Hope 177 Around the World in Eighty Days 194 Glacier Bay 204 Facing the Bomb 224 The A-Team 234 Mind-Blowing 248 Debate 265 Across the Bering Strait 282 Success 302 Siberia's Gold Medal 307 Swimming to Antarctica 314 Afterword 358 What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!
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