Passage IV

Swimming in Open Water

Immersed in the icy water off the Antarctic Peninsula, Lynne Cox wasn't sure if she could accomplish her goal to be the first person to swim a mile through the glacier-strewn sea. At forty-five, she would of been training for two years for this event, which she hoped her preparations would pay off.

Cox grew up swimming in the cold lakes of New Hampshire and Maine. When she was fifteen, she broke the men's and women's record's for swimming the English Channel by finishing the twenty-seven-mile swim in less than ten hours. (50) She could swim in open water and had swum across the Cook Strait in New Zealand, around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, and across Lake Titicaca from Bolivia to Peru.

[1] Cox is fortunate that she has a natural tolerance for cold temperatures, but swimming the Antarctic—in water only slightly above freezing—demanded serious preparation. [2] This athlete studied how Antarctic animals adapt to the frigid environment. [3] Penguins' double layer of feathers acts as insulation, so she grew her hair long and piled it under her swim cap. [4] Antarctic seals'rely on body fat for warmth, so Cox gained twelve pounds, it was weight that she hoped would keep her warm in the icy water. (53)

In November 2002, a crew of physicians, sailors, and expedition experts, Cox headed for Neko Harbor on the Antarctic Peninsula. There she dove into water chilled by melting glaciers and began to swim. Without proper training, she would have been in peril.

Her initial fatigue and exhaustion turned into exhilaration as she moved through water that was clearer and blue as any she'd swum in before. For a moment at the end, she considered going even farther. Cox knew, however, that the longer she stayed in the water, the longer it would take to bring her body temperature一which fell to 95.5 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the swim—back to normal. A mile was good enough as Cox closed in on the shore—and her goal—penguins splashed in the water with the great athlete.