I am so excited!!!!
Thursday, 24. July 2008, 03:12:46
I went to the library today. Checking out my books at the new self serve check out station, the attendant (making sure we could figure out the new self serve check out station) said to me, "Are you a hard core swimmer? In October, we are hosting a talk by a swimmer who has swum some incredible long distance swims. The arctic. The English Channel..." . Oh I think? I know who this is! So I asked, "What's her name?" Yes! I was right! 
Lynne Cox is coming here to our library to give a talk about her new book, "Grayson".
It's an account of her training off the coast of California, for a long distance swim, and a baby gray whale who becomes separated from its mother and begins following her. Lynne Cox is so amazing. She broke the world record for swimming the English Channel at age 15. She was also the first person to swim the Bering Strait, and the first to swim over a mile in the Antarctic. The water is so cold there, your teeth can shatter and you can get nerve damage in your extremities. I remember watching the documentary, 
and was amazed at how she swam really well, but as soon as she got out of the water and stopped swimming she went into hypothermia.
The other day W and I went swimming in the ocean near our place. It was so cold I couldn't keep my face in the water for more than 30 seconds. My ankles and wrists were just aching. I'm such a wimp! Today I went to the pool, nice and warm and swam a whopping 2500 m. Well, gotta start somewhere!
You know, I never get excited about celebrity, whatever, just another person. But...this is different!
Lynne Cox is coming here to our library to give a talk about her new book, "Grayson".
It's an account of her training off the coast of California, for a long distance swim, and a baby gray whale who becomes separated from its mother and begins following her. Lynne Cox is so amazing. She broke the world record for swimming the English Channel at age 15. She was also the first person to swim the Bering Strait, and the first to swim over a mile in the Antarctic. The water is so cold there, your teeth can shatter and you can get nerve damage in your extremities. I remember watching the documentary, and was amazed at how she swam really well, but as soon as she got out of the water and stopped swimming she went into hypothermia. The other day W and I went swimming in the ocean near our place. It was so cold I couldn't keep my face in the water for more than 30 seconds. My ankles and wrists were just aching. I'm such a wimp! Today I went to the pool, nice and warm and swam a whopping 2500 m. Well, gotta start somewhere!
You know, I never get excited about celebrity, whatever, just another person. But...this is different!
By nopanic, # 24. July 2008, 06:47:45
By sanshan, # 24. July 2008, 14:17:40
By volkuro, # 24. July 2008, 18:09:50
By nopanic, # 24. July 2008, 18:57:20
By sprogger, # 25. July 2008, 03:26:47
By hungryghost, # 25. July 2008, 05:42:53
Damn....THATS impressive!!
One of my oldest n dearest friends (who is 39 now) dreams of swimming the channel.
When we were kids, he was pretty much hopeless at all sports. Ball sports etc. Stick him in the water though, he moves through it with the grace and power of a bleedin dolphin.
We have advised him to start small and consider swimming the width of Loch Ness (which he grew up on the banks of).
It is (I think) almost 3 miles (4.8 km) at the widest point, and proper bloody freezing. People have been hospitalised trying to do it on several occasions.
Will keep you posted on whether he plucks up the courage to give it a go!
P.S. If you get to meet this lady, maybe you can get a pic of the two of you and post it for us
By Wakajawaka, # 25. July 2008, 17:07:46
As I was swimming in the ocean the other day I was thinking, I wonder if this is as cold as the channel. It was ankle sore cold. Face sore cold. Not as cold as the Bering Strait of course. That's just silly! Well, maybe not silly, just seemingly impossible. Makes you wonder about the limits of us humans. A lot of it is just in the mind. Scientists have done testing on this woman, they say she has a special physiology that allows her to function in the cold. For one, her body fat is evenly distributed throughout her whole body, and when she is immersed in the cold water, her circulation/blood retreats from her extremities and the skin surface and as long as she is moving she is able to keep warm. I've found that in cold water as well. It's painful at the start, but once I get moving and stay moving I can be quite comfortable. But as soon as I get out of the water though, it takes me hours to warm up.
I've read her biography and she was very determined as a youngster as well. Always had incredible endurance.
By sanshan, # 25. July 2008, 18:09:01
He is one of these people who feels the cold more than most.......on dry land with plenty clothes on!
Im told also that one of the things that often freaks out the folks who (try to) swim Loch Ness is the fact that due to the peat in the surrounding area, the water is pitch black from around a foot below the surface. Must look well creepy out there!
Looking forward to seeing a pic of you and the other incredible swimmer
By Wakajawaka, # 25. July 2008, 19:38:34
By SittingFox, # 26. July 2008, 07:45:45
By nopanic, # 26. July 2008, 14:57:17
Why can't my life be anything like yrs??
By sugarwinx, # 27. July 2008, 19:47:50
Yes Nic, I'm a glutton for punishment.
Adele, I'm rereading her biography. It's quite the story. So determined at a very young age.
By sanshan, # 28. July 2008, 01:53:19
By nopanic, # 28. July 2008, 03:46:48
That's 2.5 km
By Mickeyjoe_irl, # 28. July 2008, 23:58:39
By sanshan, # 29. July 2008, 00:41:12
Well, u were greedy! U could have just stayed in Hungry's apartment but instead, u want one for yrself...
Gee, would u ever stay in Hungry's? Even for a night? I dread he might take u running and then ask to cook something for him to eat... He's made most of his friends cook for him already!
By sugarwinx, # 29. July 2008, 18:21:37
By sanshan, # 29. July 2008, 18:44:11
By Mickeyjoe_irl, # 29. July 2008, 18:55:34
By sanshan, # 29. July 2008, 19:24:43
By cakkleberrylane, # 1. August 2008, 19:47:10
She must be out of her mind, but impressive is what she has done.
By Duplo, # 3. August 2008, 19:45:08
By sanshan, # 3. August 2008, 22:14:51