“Grayson is moving and thrilling in its simple language as Cox laments the inadequacy of words to express profound feelings but demonstrates the exhilaration of the effort.”
—Booklist

“An inspirational, almost spiritual read.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Lynne Cox is a master of story telling: her prose captures the vast movements and deep mysteries of the ocean and the creatures for whom it is home. Everyone who reads Grayson will be enchanted and profoundly moved. Grayson is a powerful voice for conservation.”
—Jane Goodall, Ph.D., DBE
Founder – the Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger of Peace www.janegoodall.org

“A moving and memorable story, filled with dramatic tension and loving descriptions of the sea and all the wondrous creatures it holds. Grayson is a celebration of the natural world in all its glory, and the deep and lasting effect it can have on us humans if only we pause to notice.”
—John Grogan, author of Marley & Me

“A beautiful true story of interspecies communication where
the human and the whale mind connected.”
—Temple Grandin, author of Animals in Translation

“The combination of retelling her once-in-a-lifetime experience with her observations on life will have timeless appeal for all ages.”
—Publishers Weekly

KEY SWIMS FROM 1971

At age 9, Lynne began her swimming career in Manchester, NH with the Manchester Swim Team. Her coach was Ben Muritt, the Harvard University coach. At age 12, Lynne moved with her family to Los Alamitos California where she began training with Don Gambril, coach of four US Olympic Swim teams.

In 1971 at age 14 Lynne swam across the Catalina Channel with a group of teenagers from Seal Beach, California . They swam a distance of 27 miles in 12 hours and 36 minutes.

In 1972 at age 15 Lynne swam across the English Channel and shattered the men's and women's world records with a time of 9 hours and 57 minutes.

In 1973 at age 16 Lynne returned to England and broke the men's world record for the English Channel a second time with a time of 9 hours and 36 minutes.

In 1974 at age 17 Lynne returned to the Catalina Channel and broke the men's and women's world records with a time of 8 hours and 48 minutes.

In 1975 Lynne became the first woman to swim across Cook Strait between the North and South Islands of New Zealand. Her time was 12 hour and 2 1/2 minutes.

In 1976 Lynne broke the men's and women's world record for swimming the Oresund between Denmark and Sweden with a time of 5 hours and 9 minutes. And she broke the men's and women's record that same year for swimming across the Kattegut between Norway to Sweden in a time of 6 hours and 16 minutes.

In 1976 Lynne became the first person to swim across the 42 degree F waters of the Strait of Magellan with a time of 1 hour 2 minutes.

In 1977 Lynne became the first person to swim between three of the Aleutian Islands.

In 1977 Lynne became the first person to swim 8 miles around the Cape of Good Hope in a time of 3 hoiurs and 3 minutes.

In 1980 Lynne was invited to speak at Tokyo Medical College and to participate in a swim around Joga Shima Island.

In 1983 Lynne swam across the three Lakes of New Zealand's Southern Alps.

In 1984 Lynne swam across twelve major waterways across in the United States.

In 1985 Lynne swam "Around the World in 80 Days" by swimming 12 extremely challenging waterways some that had never been attempted.

In 1987 Lynne became the first person to swim across the Bering Strait as a way to open the US-Soviet Border for the first time in 48 years with a time of 2 hours and 6 minutes.

In 1988 Lynne became the first person to swim across Lake Baikal and had a cape in Russia named after her.

In 1990 Lynne swam across the Beagle Channel between Argentine and Chile as a way to promote cooperation between the two countries. She became the first person in the world to complete this swim.

In 1990 Lynne swam across the Spree River between the newly united German Republics.

In 1992 Lynne became the first person to swim across Lake Titicaca from Bolivia to Peru.

In 1994 Lynne swam through the Gulf of Aqaba from Egypt to Israel and from Israel to Jordan tracing the progress of peace between the three countries.

In 2002 Lynne became the first person to complete a 1.2 miles in Antarctica, from the ship the Orlova to Neko Harbor in a time of 25 minutes.

For more information please take a look at the Swimming Hall of Fame website. Lynne was inducted into the Swimming Hall of Fame in 2000.

"Swimming to Antarctica": QUOTES

"[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

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.

Praise for Swimming to Antarctica
"Cox's tale is a brisk, invigorating plunge into the world and mind-set of sacrifice and dedication of an extreme athlete years ahead of her time." —San Francisco Chronicle

"Every recorded sea adventure by this celebrated American ocean swimmer is a triumph of a positive outlook, hefty preparation, and raw courage . . . It's the sharing of the swimming experience that creates the book's magic, and the understanding of physiological and mental endurance which supplies its substance." —The Economist

"Cox's riveting and inspiring book will doubtless win her more fans. The only things more impressive than her heroics are her magnanimous spirit and ability to bring people together." —Miami Herald

"Fetching and pitch-perfect . . . Full of perilous, preposterous-if-they-weren't-true scenes, Swimming to Antarctica is free of the cheap sentimentality too common in athlete memoirs, and is thus capable of real inspiration."
— Outside

"A beguiling testament to one woman's uncommon obsession--and her indomitable will to satisfy it. If, as Kierkegaard wrote, purity of heart is to will one thing, Cox's lively account serves as a vivid illustration of just what that state of grace might look like." —Elle

"Cox writes in such deft detail that even a cursory read leaves one shivering for a warm towel."
—Entertainment Weekly

"Swimmer Lynne Cox is an extraordinary athlete. But what makes her remarkable is not so much her incredible aquatic derring-do as it is her ability to describe her efforts in prose so compelling and immediate that even a non-swimmer can almost feel as if he'd been a participant."
—Philadelphia Inquirer

"The singularity of her swims alone makes her book an instant classic of adventure writing . . . Her determination will leave you gasping." —Minneapolis Star-Tribune

"An engagingly gripping read, an often engrossing tale of an extreme, otherworldly existence. It is this stunning force of will--this relentless dance along the thin line between brave and crazy--that makes Swimming so fascinating." —Chicago Sun-Times

"Her list of record-breaking and first-ever swims is so long that some don't even get mentioned in the 323-page book." —Anchorage News

"Swimming to Antarctica? Surely a metaphor, I thought, for some improbable quest. Wrong; how perilous it is to underestimate the human spirit." —Roanoke Times

"Cox's story flows seamlessly to a Rocky-like crescendo as she shares details of her sheer will and daring. This is one spectactular book about one remarkable life. Read it and you will never look at swimming the same way again." —Rocky Mountain News

"It would be a mistake to think that Cox's new autobiography is of interest only to swimmers. In fact, the book has more in common with heroic literature of the ancient world--like Beowulf and The Odyssey--than the typical athlete's success story. Her story is a powerful account of clinging hard to a bigger dream." —Bookpage

"An awesome study in immersion. An otherworldly existence brought hugely to life." —Kirkus Reviews (starred)

"A thrilling, awesome and well-written story."
— Publishers Weekly

"She studies her body like a scientist but writes about water with a winning, simple poeticism. Many passages are grip-the-page exciting, whether she's dodging Antarctic icebergs or Nile River sewage. 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 (huge support crews are necessary) don't bring us together after all." —Booklist

"Lynne Cox is a unique phenomenon: a champion swimmer who can write about it. In gripping prose, she takes us right into the icy water of the Bering Strait and into the mystery of what drives world-class athletes to their record-breaking achievements. Her victories become ours in this fascinating narrative." —Anne Rice

"Like all those who have followed Lynne Cox's adventures, I have looked forward to her own account for a long time. Swimming to Antarctica is her literally chilling chronicle of a series of remarkable and courageous journeys on the world's high wild seas."
— Caroline Alexander

"Lynne Cox writes about swimming the way Saint-Exupéry wrote about flying, and one sees how swimming, like flying, can stretch the wings of the spirit . . . Swimming to Antarctica is thrilling, modest, vivid, and lyrical, an inspiring account of a life of aspiration and adventure." —Oliver Sacks

"Swap the icy peaks of Into Thin Air with choppy salt water and you've got Swimming to Antarctica--Lynne Cox's extreme athletic tale for the new millennium . . . You don't have to be an athlete to appreciate Cox's story. What she captures in her memoir is something magic--the idea it's possible, somehow, to find complete peace amidst places so very turbulent and frightening." — Buffalo News