Synopses & Reviews
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, where she swam five miles in thirty-eight-degree water in just a swimsuit, cap, and goggles. In between those accomplishments, 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. She even swam a mile in the Antarctic.
Lynne writes the same way she swims, with indefatigable spirit and joy, and shares the beauty of her time in the water with a poet's eye for detail. She has accomplished yet another feat--writing a new classic of sports memoir.
Prologue: 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
PRAISE FORSWIMMING TO ANTARCTICA
"This would make a great story even if Cox couldn't write. But she can . . . She's 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
"What emerges here is an athlete whose determination is so fierce that it seems almost exotic. She is fit. She is focused. She is Lance Armstrong with body fat."-USA TODAY
"More than the story of the greatest open-water swimmer, Swimming to Antarctica is a portrait of rare and relentless drive . . . Cox's understated style makes for gripping reading."
-SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
Thrilling , vivid, and lyrical, an inspiring account of a life of aspiration and adventure."All of [her] superhuman escapades are vividly detailed in Coxs absorbing memoir.""An absorbing, well-written memoir. The paperback edition is even better than the hardcover, with more maps and photographs."Gripping reading...Swimming to Antaritica is a portrait of rare and relentless drive."Please. Please. Please, Coach, let us out of the pool, we're freezing," pleaded three purple-lipped eight-year-olds in lane two.
Coach Muritt scowled at my teammates clinging to the swimming pool wall. Usually this was all he had to do to motivate them, and they'd continue swimming. But this day was different. Ominous black clouds were crouched on the horizon, and the wind was gusting from all different directions. Even though it was a mid-July morning in Manchester, New Hampshire, it felt like it would snow.
Cupping his large hands against his red face, and covering the wine-colored birthmark on his left cheek, Coach Muritt bellowed, "Get off the wall! Swim!"
"We're too cold," the boys protested.
Coach Muritt did not like to be challenged by anyone, let alone three eight-year-old boys. Irritated, he shouted again at the swimmers to get moving, and when they didn't respond, he jogged across the deck with his fist clenched, his thick shoulders hunched against the wind and his short-chopped brown hair standing on end. Anger flashed in his icy blue eyes, and I thought, I'd better swim or I'll get in trouble too, but I wanted to see what was going to happen to the boys.
Coach Muritt shook his head and shouted, "Swim and you'll get warm!"
But the boys weren't budging. They were shaking, their teeth chattering.
"Come on, swim. If you swim, you'll warm up," Coach Muritt coaxed them. He looked up at the sky, then checked his watch, as if trying to decide what to do. In other lanes, swimmers were doing the breaststroke underwater, trying to keep their arms warm. More teammates were stopping at the wall and complaining that they were cold. Laddie and Brooks McQuade, brothers who were always getting into trouble, were breaking rank, climbing out of the pool and doing cannonballs from the deck. Other young boys and girls were joining them.
"Hey, stop it! Someone's going to get hurt-get your butts back in the water!" Coach Muritt yelled. He knew he was losing control, that he had pushed the team as far as we could go, so he waved us in. When all seventy-five of us reached the wall, he motioned for us to move toward a central lane and then he shouted, "Okay, listen up. Listen up. I'll make a deal with you. If I let you get out now, you will all change into something warm and we'll meet in the boys' locker room. Then we will do two hours of calisthenics."
Cheering wildly, my teammates leaped out of the pool, scurried across the deck, grabbed towels slung over the chain-link fence surrounding the pool, and squeezed against one another as they tried to be first through the locker room doors.
Getting out of the water was the last thing in the world I wanted to do. I hated doing calisthenics with the team. Usually we did them five days a week for an hour, after our two-hour swimming workout. A typical workout included five hundred sit-ups, two hundred push-ups, five hundred leg extensions, five hundred half sit-ups, two hundred leg lifts on our backs, and two hundred leg lifts on our stomachs. As we did the exercises, Coach Muritt counted and we had to keep pace with him. Between each set of fifty repetitions, he gave us a one-minute break, but if anyone fell off pace or did the exercises incorrectly, he made us start the set all over again. He wanted to make us tough, teach us discipline and team unity. And I didn't mind that. I liked to work hard, and I liked the challenge of staying on pace, but I detested having to start an exercise all over again because someone else was slacking off or fooling around. Brooks and Laddie McQuade were notorious for that. They were always trying to see how much they could get away with before they got caught. For them, it was a big game. Older boys on the team yelled at them and tossed kickboards at them, but they didn't care; they liked the attention they were getting from the team and the coach. I didn't want to play their game, and I didn't want to do two long hours of calisthenics with them, so I shouted, "Coach Muritt, can I stay in the pool and swim?"
He was wiping his eyes and nose with a handkerchief, and asked incredulously, "Jeez, aren't you freezing?"
"If I keep swimming, I'm okay," I said, and smiled, trying my very best to convince him. I was a chubby nine-year-old, and I was a slow swimmer, so I rarely got a chance to stop and take a rest. But because I just kept going, I managed to constantly create body heat, and that way I stayed warm when all the other swimmers were freezing.
"Is there anyone else who wants to stay in the water?"
"We do," said three of his Harvard swimmers in lane one.
During the college season, Muritt coached the Harvard University Swim Team. He was considered to be one of the best coaches in all of New England; at least a dozen of his college swimmers had qualified for the U.S. Nationals. In the summer, most of his college swimmers worked out with our age groupers on the Manchester Swim Team, and they inspired us by their example. Somehow my parents knew from the start that to become your best, you needed to train with the best. And that's why I think they put my older brother, David, me, and my two younger sisters, Laura and Ruth, into Coach Muritt's swimming program.
Coach Muritt studied the sky, and we followed his gaze. "I still don't like the looks of those clouds," he said pensively.
"Coach, we'll get out immediately if it starts to thunder. I promise," I said, and held my breath, hoping he wouldn't make me do calisthenics.
He considered for a moment, but he was distracted by uproarious laughter, high-pitched hoots, and shouts coming from the locker room.
"Please, Coach Muritt, please can we stay in?" I said.
"Okay, but I'll have to take the pace clock or it's going to blow over-you'll have to swim at your own pace for the next couple of hours."
"Thank you, Coach," I said, and clapped my hands; I was doubly thrilled. I had escaped calisthenics and now I was going to be able to swim for three hours straight. I loved swimming and I loved swimming at my own pace, alone in my own lane, with no one kicking water in my face, and no one behind tapping my toes, telling me I had to swim faster. It was a feeling of buoyant freedom. But swimming into a storm was even better; waves were rushing around me, and lifting me, and tossing me from side to side. The wind was howling, slamming against the chain-link fence so strongly that it sounded like the clanging of a warning bell. I felt the vibrations rattle right through my body, and I wondered if the wind would tear the fence from its hinges. Turning on my side to breathe, I checked the sky. It looked like a tornado was approaching, only without the funnel cloud. I wondered for a second if I should climb out of the water. But I pushed that thought away; I didn't want to get out. I was immersed in unbridled energy and supernatural beauty, and I wanted to see what would happen next.
My world was reduced to the blur of my arms stroking as a cold, driving rain began. The raindrops that hit my lips tasted sweet and cold, and I enjoyed the sensations of every new moment. The pool was no longer a flat, boring rectangle of blue; it was now a place of constant change, a place that I had to continually adjust to as I swam or I'd get big gulps of water instead of air. That day, I realized that nature was strong, beautiful, dramatic, and wonderful, and being out in the water during that storm made me feel somehow a part of it, somehow connected to it.
When the hail began, the connection diminished considerably. I scrambled for the gutters while the college swimmers leaped out of the water and ran as fast as they could into the locker room. One looked back at me and shouted, "Aren't you getting out?"
"No, I don't want to," I said, crawling into the gutter by the stairs. The hail came down so fast and hard that all I heard was the rush and pinging of the stones as they hit the deck and pool. Thankful for the white bathing cap and goggles protecting my head and eyes, I covered my cheeks with my hands. Hailstones the size of frozen peas blasted my hands, neck, and shoulders, and I winced and cringed and tried to squeeze into a tighter ball, hoping that it would be over soon.
When the hail finally changed to a heavy rain, I crawled out of the gutter and started swimming again. As I pulled my arms through the water, I felt as if I were swimming through a giant bowl of icy tapioca. The hailstones floated to the water's surface and rolled around my body as I swam through them. I realized that by putting myself in a situation different from everyone else's, I had experienced something different, beautiful, and amazing.
In the parking lot outside, I saw Mrs. Milligan sitting in her car with her headlights aimed at me. Mrs. Milligan was Joyce's mother, and Joyce was the fastest and nicest girl on the team. Joyce had qualified for nationals a couple of times, and I wanted to be just like her. Once I'd asked her why she was so fast. She'd said that she did what Coach Muritt asked of her. It was such a simple statement, but one that was a revelation for me. If I did what Joyce did, then maybe I could also make it to nationals. I wondered how long Mrs. Milligan had been watching me. When I saw my teammates poking their heads out of the locker room, I knew the workout was over, so I climbed out of the pool.
Copyright and#169; 2004 by Lynne Cox
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work
should be mailed to the following address: Permissions Department,
Harcourt, Inc., 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, Florida 32887-6777.
Newly Illustrated with Photos and Maps Throughout (format to separate this phrase from copy)
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.
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
International Swimming Hall of Famer and Alex Award-winner Lynne Cox's classic sports memoir Swimming to Antarctica is a portrait of rare and relentless drive (Sports Illustrated).Here is the acclaimed life story of a woman whose determination inspires 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, where she swam five miles in thirty-eight-degree water in just a swimsuit, cap, and goggles. In between those accomplishments, 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. She even swam a mile in the Antarctic.Lynne writes the same way she swims, with indefatigable spirit and joy, and shares the beauty of her time in the water with a poet's eye for detail. And this paperback edition of Swimming to Antarctica expands upon the detail of her extraordinary atheleticism with exclusive photos and maps throughout.
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
- At age fourteen, she swam twenty-six miles from Catalina Island to the California mainland.
- At ages fifteen and sixteen, she broke the men's and women's world records for swimming the English Channel; a thirty-three-mile crossing in nine hours, thirty-six minutes.
- At eighteen, she swam the twenty-mile Cook Strait between North and South Islands of New Zealand, was caught on a massive swell, found herself after five hours farther from the finish than when she started, and still completed the swim.
- She was the first to swim the Strait of Magellan, the most treacherous three-mile stretch of water in the world.
- The first to swim the Bering Strait (the channel that forms the boundary line between the United States and Russia) from Alaska to Siberia, thereby opening the U.S.-Soviet border for the first time in forty-eight years, swimming in thirty-eight-degree water in four-foot waves without a shark cage, wet suit, or lanolin grease.
- The first to swim the Cape of Good Hope (a shark emerged from the kelp, its jaws wide open, and was shot as it headed straight for her).
In this extraordinary book, the world's most extraordinary distance swimmer writes about her emotional and spiritual need to swim and about the almost mystical act of swimming itself.
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.
Synopsis
Newly Illustrated with Photos and Maps Throughout (format to separate this phrase from copy)
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.
Synopsis
Newly Illustrated with Photos and Maps Throughout (format to separate this phrase from copy)
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.
CITATION: 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)
Synopsis
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, where she swam five miles in thirty-eight-degree water in just a swimsuit, cap, and goggles. In between those accomplishments, 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. She even swam a mile in the Antarctic.
Lynne writes the same way she swims, with indefatigable spirit and joy, and shares the beauty of her time in the water with a poet's eye for detail. She has accomplished yet another feat--writing a new classic of sports memoir.
Synopsis
A captivating memoir of one womanandrsquo;s attempt to complete Alaskaandrsquo;s legendary race, the Iditarod, led by her team of huskies with whom she forms a fascinating and inextricable bond and gains unique insights into canine behavior
and#160;and#160;
Synopsis
A captivating memoir of one womanandrsquo;s attempt to finish the Iditarod, led by her team of spunky huskies with whom she shares a fascinating and inextricable bond At age forty-seven, a mother of two, Debbie Moderow was not your average musher in the Iditarod, but thatandrsquo;s where she found herself when, less thanand#160;200 miles from the finish line, her dogs decided they didnandrsquo;t want to run anymore. After all her preparation, after all the careful management of her team, and after their running so well for over a week, the huskies balked. But the sting of not completing the race after coming so far was nothing compared to the disappointment Moderow felt in having lost touch with her dogs.and#160;and#160;and#160;Fast into the Night is the gripping story of Moderowandrsquo;s journeys along the Iditarod trail with her team of spunky huskies: Taiga and Su, Piney and Creek, Nacho and Zeppy, Juliet and the headstrong leader, Kanga. The first failed attempt crushed Moderowandrsquo;s confidence, but after reconnecting with her dogs she returned and ventured again to Nome, pushing through injuries,and#160; hallucinations, epic storms, flipped sleds, and clashing personalities, both human and canine. And she prevailed.and#160;and#160;and#160;Part adventure, part love story, part inquiry into the mystery of the connection between humans and dogs, Fast into the Night is an exquisitely written memoir of a woman, her dogs, and what can happen when someone puts herself in that place between daring and doubtandmdash;and soldiers on.
Synopsis
Lynne Cox, adventurer and swimmer, author of Swimming to Antarctica (and#8220;grippingand#8221; and#8212;Sports Illustrated) and Grayson (and#8220;wondrous, and unforgettableand#8221; and#8212;Carl Hiaasen), gives us in South with the Sun a full-scale account of the explorerand#8217;s life and expeditions.
Synopsis
andldquo;This book is as autobiographical as it is biographical . . . a book that juxtaposes two adventurers, one with her own challenges still unfolding and the other with his position fixed in history . . . a book worthy of the centenary celebration of Amundsenandrsquo;s trek to the South Pole.andrdquo;andmdash;
San Francisco Chronicle Today the North and South Poles are home to research stations and film crews, but just a century ago they were forbidding lands seldom seen by human eyes. Those who journeyed there were the last true explorers, and one of the most successful ever was Roald Amundsen. Known as andldquo;the last of the Vikings,andrdquo; the Norwegian-born Amundsen began his career of adventure at age fifteen and by forty had become the first man to successfully navigate the Northwest Passage, and to reach both the North and South Poles.
As a girl, Lynne Cox read of Amundsenandrsquo;s exploits, which inspired her to follow her own adventurous dreams of open-water swimming. Here, she gives an account of Amundsenandrsquo;s life and expeditions while detailing her own experiences swimming (without a wetsuit) in the same polar regions he first explored. At once a biography, history, and memoir, South with the Sun holds something for any lover of adventure.
andldquo;Not to miss . . . It's fascinating to read about the Norwegian hardman through the eyes of Cox.andrdquo;andmdash;Outside
About the Author
Originally from Connecticut, DEBBIE CLARKE MODEROW came to Alaska in 1979 for a mountain climbing expedition and met her husband, Mark. For the Moderows, dog mushing has always been a family affair. Debbie ran the Iditarod in 2003 and 2005, completing the latter in 13 days, 19 hours, 10 minutes, and 32 seconds. In 2013, Debbie graduated from Pacific Lutheran Universityand#39;s Rainier Writing Workshop with an MFA in Creative Writing.
Table of Contents
Prologue: 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
Reading Group Guide
Critical acclaim for Swimming to Antarctica: "Ultimately, Cox's memoir is about the joy of exploring the impossible. She's done things the rest of us can only imagine-and she's written a book that helps us to imagine them with clarity and wonder."-The Boston Globe "Gripping reading . . . Swimming to Antarctica is a portrait of rare and relentless drive."-Sports Illustrated "Thrilling, vivid, and lyrical, an inspiring account of a life of aspiration and adventure."-Oliver Sacks About the Book Before she turned twenty, Lynne Cox had broken the men's and women's world records for swimming the English Channel, swum from Catalina Island to the California mainland, and braved the dangerous Cook Strait between New Zealand's North and South Islands. But that was just the beginning. Capturing the thrill of a life dedicated to excellence, Swimming to Antarctica tells the remarkable stories behind Lynne's victories, which went on to include swimming across the Bering Strait-a feat that, according to Mikhail Gorbachev, helped diminish tensions between "Thrilling, vivid, and lyrical, an inspiring account of a life of aspiration and adventure."-the U.S.S.R. and the United States-and becoming the first to swim the Strait of Magellan (the most treacherous three-mile stretch of water in the world). As Lynne recalls the vivid details behind these challenging adventures, Swimming to Antarctica also reveals the humble yet undaunted spirit that not only ensured her survival but also opened the hearts and minds of those who cheered her on at every stage. Whether she is recalling her body's transformation in iceberg-riddled waters or a nighttime swim in which flying fish sailed overhead in a giddy cascade, Lynne approaches each memory with a sparkling sense of wonder. Hers is a unique story with broad appeal; there is much to discover about the world, and about ourselves, while following the journey described in Swimming to Antarctica. We hope that the questions and exercises presented in this guide will enhance your experience of Lynne's inspiring memoir. For guides to other great discussion titles, visit us at www.HarcourtBooks.com. Using This Guide Swimming to Antarctica offers a wide range of opportunities for further inquiry and reflection. So that readers may tailor their discussions, this guide presents various categories of topics covering personal growth, physical fitness, armchair travel, and a closer look at the storytelling itself. Championing Your Life: Inspiration for Personal Growth 1. What goals could Lynne's memoir inspire you to pursue? At the moment, what is your Antarctica? 2. Discuss the various obstacles you perceive in reaching that goal. Is there a common denominator among them? As a group, develop detailed action plans for overcoming these obstacles, using the short-term and long-range approaches described in the book. 3. What do the italicized passages tell us about Lynne's techniques in coaching herself? Arranging your discussion group in pairs, create messages for one another that echo Lynne's realistic but encouraging self-talk. 4. In the first chapter, Lynne recalls asking a childhood friend for the secret to becoming a fast swimmer. Joyce replied that she simply did what her coach asked of her. How can we discern whether a coach or mentor is trustworthy? Whom will you invite to be part of your team of "life coaches"? 5. Swimming to Antarctica provides much insight into the art of persuasion. What techniques did Lynne use to persuade others, from Soviet officials to New Zealand fans, to share in her dream? Discuss the toughest naysayer in your life. Through role-playing, enlist other group members to explore the process of changing this person's point of view. 6. In her afterword, Lynne shares an anecdote about a schoolboy who asked her how she would respond to failure. Her solution is not to lower the bar; she even suggests that in such situations, perhaps the bar hasn't been raised high enough. She prescribes learning from a defeat and then persisting in new attempts. What past defeats still trouble you? How would it feel to revisit this attempt, raising the bar even higher next time? Physical Education 1. Lynne often dispelled stereotypes about gender and body type in her encounters around the world; her physiology was actually ideal for the challenges of long-distance swimming. Have you ever been "mislabeled" in a gym setting? How would you characterize your best athletic attributes? What forms of exercise come naturally to you? 2. Choose a physical-fitness goal that you would like to achieve six months from now. Choose an additional one that will require two years to achieve. How can you apply Lynne's process and timelines to these aspirations? Her steps include acclimating herself, training in waters similar to the final course, and finding experienced navigators. What similar steps will you need to take on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis? What role model will you choose within this field? What world record would you most like to set? 3. For safety as well as inspiration, measurement and mathematics were essential to Lynne's progress, from assessing her speed to undergoing numerous medical tests. Before embarking on any fitness program, you should consult a physician. But the consultation should provide you with more than anecdotal information; it's an opportunity to begin tracking all of the data related to your health. Create a notebook or electronic database that combines both your "vital statistics" and the progress of your athletic goals. Who will be on your team of statisticians? 4. From swimming in a hailstorm as a child to watching twenty-foot waves crest at the Cape of Good Hope, Lynne is continually drawn to the most dramatic conditions nature has to offer. How does nature become both her companion and her competitor? What do you think accounts for the distinction between athletes who excel in these rugged, unpredictable settings and those whose milieu is an indoor lane or court? What workout settings do you prefer? 5. Lynne relies solely on her body's own capabilities in reaching her goals, swimming without a wetsuit and carefully guarding her health before each event. What enables her to avoid the temptations of steroid use or other performance enhancers? In your opinion, what separates "purist" athletes from the rest? Globetrotting with Lynne Cox 1. Choosing from the many locales visited in Swimming to Antarctica, assign a destination to each of your group members to research. In a subsequent meeting, share travelogues discussing cultural customs, cuisine, weather conditions, topography, and other interesting features. 2. The challenges described in the book range from the concrete (sharks, fog) to the abstract (distrust, lack of imagination on the part of her sponsors). What challenges were particular to each location? 3. Create a timeline of Lynne's swims. How have political conditions changed (if at all) in each of these settings since she visited them? What accounts for the distinction between stability and instability in these regions? What made Lynne's long-distance swims such a politically charged endeavor in some locations but not in others? 4. Lynne writes that her experience in Egypt taught her how to recognize her own limitations. What did the outcome of this particular trip also teach her about nationality, gender perceptions around the world, and preparing for international travel in general? 5. If you had an unlimited budget, which of the book's locations would you most like to visit? What would your itinerary look like? What items would you pack? Which traveling companions would you bring? A Closer Reading 1. Reread the prologue. What new significance does this scene take, in light of her lifelong journey? How did your initial impressions of her Bering Strait experience compare to your understanding of it toward the end of the book? 2. Discuss the contributions Lynne's parents made to her success. What behaviors did they model for their children? How does her story affect your perception of nature versus nurture in predicting a child's future? 3. How does Lynne balance optimism with naiveté and exhilaration with caution? What lessons does she share about being "fearless"? 4. How do you perceive the spiritual experiences Lynne describes, such as her receipt of a Zulu blessing and the dolphins that guided her to safety after she asked for God's help? 5. Though training was extraordinarily time-consuming, Lynne was dedicated to classroom studies as well, from elementary school through college. To what do you attribute her overall desire for success? Her need for a balanced life? What does her experience illustrate about the keys to academic achievement? 6. Discuss the literary devices that make Swimming to Antarctica such a compelling read. What correlation might there be between Lynne's skill as a storyteller and her skill as a long-distance swimmer? Do those activities share any common ground? About the Author Lynne Cox currently coaches in the corporate arena, delivering motivational speeches before numerous Fortune 500 companies. She was named Los Angeles Times Woman of the Year, inducted into the Swimming Hall of Fame, and honored with a lifetime achievement award from the University of California at Santa Barbara. She is also a prolific writer, with articles appearing in such publications as the New Yorker and the Los Angeles Times Magazine. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, she now resides in Los Alamitos, California, where she has lived for much of her life. Swimming to Antarctica Tales of a Long-Distance Swimmer 0-15-603130-2 $14.00 This book is available at libraries or wherever books are sold. To order additional Discussion Guides free of charge, call Harcourt Customer Service toll-free at 1-800-543-1918. 0-15-603294-5 Swimming to Antarctica Discussion Guide
Copyright © 2005 Harcourt, Inc. Written by Amy Root