Hump Day History

 On this day in 1987, Lynne Cox made the first recorded swim from America to the Soviet Union.

First, in 1971, she swam the Catalina Channel off the coast of California.

She then swam the English Channel, and broke the world record for men and women, finishing in nine hours and 57 minutes.

Cox began training in cold water, and was not one to wear a westuit.

She set out from Little Diomede, Alaska in water just above freezing.  Her swim across the Bering Strait to Big Diomede took two hours and 16 minutes.  It is considered one of the most incredible cold water swims in history.

It also came as the Cold War was thawing.  Mikhail Gorbachev opened the borders for her reception, and later reflected: "She proved by her courage how close to each other our peoples live."

I wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate another swimmer, Katie Ledecky.

She earned two more gold medals this Olympics, making her total nine - the most in history for a female swimmer.  Including silver and bronze, she is the most decorated American woman with 14 medals.  She's also won 21 world championships.

Swimming World has an article highlighting 5 major differences between open water swimming and a swimming pool.  Waves and temperature being obvious, it seems more about mindset.