Swimming to Antarctica is a beautiful book

I don't use the word beautiful very often, but the word came to mind chapter after chapter as I read Lynn Cox's Swimming to Antarctica Tales of a Long-Distance Swimmer. Although swimming a mile to Antarctica was her latest great achievement, the book describes over 10 mind blowing swims around the world. Among them:

• California's Catalina Channel
• The English Channel
• The Nile River
• Cook Strait, New Zealand
• The Strait of Magellan
• Glacier Bay
• Around the Cape of Good Hope
• The Bering Strait

Many of these swims set world records in time and distance. Her English Channel swim set a record for both men and women at only age 15. The account of the Cook Straight swim drew me in a she told of swimming with a school of tuxedo dolphins. In Alaska's Glacier Bay, she dodged translucent blue glaciers and chopped through pan ice to reach the shore.

Lynne's efforts in swimming are exceeded only by her desires to bring people and nations together. Her Bering Strait swim was more than a decade in planning and coordinating during the height of the Cold War. In fact, I was amazed to learn that President Gorbachev mentioned Lynne by name in a toast after signing of the INF Missle Treaty with President Reagan. Her efforts have brought together nations and helped dissolve political borders.

Lynne has written an inspirational biography and I've recommended this book to swimmers and non-swimmers athletes and non-athletes. It has broad appeal and is definitely worth the read.

Her website is http://www.lynnecox.org/