In this stunning memoir of life after loss, the open-water swimming legend and bestselling author tells of facing the one challenge that no amount of training could prepare her for. A celebrated athlete who set swimming records around the world, Lynne Cox achieved astonishing feats of strength and endurance. She was the first to swim the frigid waters of the Bering Strait, the Strait of Magellan, and the coast of Antarctica, and she was the fastest to swim the English Channel. But it is a different kind of struggle that pushes her to the brink. In a short period of time, Lynne loses her father, and then her mother, and then Cody, her beloved Labrador retriever. Soon after, Lynne herself is diagnosed with a life-threatening heart condition that leaves her unable to swim and barely able to walk. But against all odds, and with the support of her friends and family, Lynne begins the slow pull toward recovery, reaching always for the open waters that give her the freedom and mastery that mean everything to her. What follows is a beautifully poignant meditation on loss and an exhilarating celebration of life as, to Lynne’s surprise, she begins to find, within the unfamiliar space of vulnerability, the greatest treasures—like falling in love.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In this extraordinary book, the world’s most extraordinary distance swimmer writes about her emotional and spiritual need to swim and about the almost mystical act of swimming itself. Lynne Cox trained hard from age nine, working with an Olympic coach, swimming five to twelve miles each day in the Pacific. At age eleven, she swam even when hail made the water “like cold tapioca pudding” and was told she would one day swim the English Channel. Four years later—not yet out of high school—she broke the men’s and women’s world records for the Channel swim. In 1987, she swam the Bering Strait from America to the Soviet Union—a feat that, according to Gorbachev, helped diminish tensions between Russia and the United States. Lynne Cox’s relationship with the water is almost mystical: she describes swimming as flying, and remembers swimming at night through flocks of flying fish the size of mockingbirds, remembers being escorted by a pod of dolphins that came to her off New Zealand. She has a photographic memory of her swims. She tells us how she conceived of, planned, and trained for each, and re-creates for us the experience of swimming (almost) unswimmable bodies of water, including her most recent astonishing one-mile swim to Antarctica in thirty-two-degree water without a wet suit. She tells us how, through training and by taking advantage of her naturally plump physique, she is able to create more heat in the water than she loses. Lynne Cox has swum the Mediterranean, the three-mile Strait of Messina, under the ancient bridges of Kunning Lake, below the old summer palace of the emperor of China in Beijing. Breaking records no longer interests her. She writes about the ways in which these swims instead became vehicles for personal goals, how she sees herself as the lone swimmer among the waves, pitting her courage against the odds, drawn to dangerous places and treacherous waters that, since ancient times, have challenged sailors in ships.

Determined to learn how to swim, Ralph the cow turns to his water-friendlyriends, such as the ducks and turtles, to give him pointers on how to stayfloat.

In trouble at camp because he has bragged about his non-existent swimming abilities, eight-year-old Danny finds himself forming an unexpected alliance with the bully "Two Ton" Tonya.

In this book, authors Scott Peltin and Jogi Rippel offer the reader high performance strategies that will strengthen their foundation of personal energy and resilience, and then teach them how to aim this newfound power, with laser-like precision, to create positive and successful results with their team, their customers, and their bottom line.

Three tiny ducks. One straight line.New happy flock. All feeling fine. Until, that is, the last ducking sinks when she should swim. Let's try that again . . . and again and again. All this sinking is ruining the rhyme! Little ones will love following the antics of these adorable ducklings, and parents will enjoy the way the book goes off the rails halfway through. Everyone will laugh at the tiny ducky's string of failures and cheer when it comes up with the best solution of all.

Once again my brother and I are in hot water . . . We weren't planning to mess up the fairy tales. The first two times we did it by accident. But when our magic mirror pulls us into the story of the Little Mermaid, we have no choice but to try and rewrite it. Let's just say the original story does NOT end happily!Now we need to:- Convince our mermaid to keep her tail- Plan a royal wedding- Avoid getting eaten by sharksWe've got to find a happy ending for the Little Mermaid . . . before she's fish food and we're lost at sea forever!

The author describes how, while training for a long-distance swim off the coast of California, she encountered a baby gray whale that had become separated from its mother and had been following her instead, and relates her efforts to find the baby's mother.

Brody Hayes is one of the best professional swimmers in America. He has it all - looks, talent, money, and the ability to pick up any lady he wants. He's living the dream. Until one day, a new swimmer joins his team and turns his world upside down. Suddenly, she's all he can think about. The only problem? She's the first girl he's met who won't even give him the time of day. Charlotte - "Charlie" - Price is brand new to the professional swimming world, and she is excited to show the world what she's got up her sleeve. She's there to work hard and give it her all, and she doesn't need any distractions - not even from cute boys. She resists at first, but Brody is relentless, and soon she starts to let down her walls and let him in. However, events from Brody's past start bleeding into present day, and somehow, he manages to get himself and Charlie into a mess that not even he can charm his way out of. Can their relationship stand the ultimate test? And can they make it through without putting their careers - and their lives - at risk?

Four seasons of immersion in New England’s Great Marsh “Like Wendell Berry and Rachel Carson, Hanlon is a true poet-ecologist, sharing in exquisitely resonant prose her patient observations of nature’s most intimate details. As she and her husband, through summer and snow, swim their local creeks and estuaries, we marvel at the timeless yet fragile terrain of both marshlands and marriage. This is the book to awaken all of us, right now, to how our coastline is changing and what it means for our future.” —Julia Glass, author of Three Junes and A House Among the Trees The Great Marsh is the largest continuous stretch of salt marsh in New England, extending from Cape Ann to New Hampshire. Patricia Hanlon and her husband built their home and raised their children alongside it. But it is not until the children are grown that they begin to swim the tidal estuary daily. Immersing herself, she experiences, with all her senses in all seasons, the vigor of a place where the two ecosystems of fresh and salt water mix, merge, and create new life. In Swimming to the Top of the Tide, Hanlon lyrically charts her explorations, at once intimate and scientific. Noting the disruptions caused by human intervention, she bears witness to the vitality of the watersheds, their essential role in the natural world, and the responsibility of those who love them to contribute to their sustainability. Patricia Hanlon is a visual artist who paints the beautiful ecosystem of New England’s Great Marsh and is involved in the watershed organizations of Greater Boston. Swimming to the Top of the Tide is her first book.