TRIUMPH FOR A COLD, CRUEL SEA
Florence Chadwick
November 07, 1960
On October 15, Florence Chadwick, the best woman long-distance swimmer the world has ever known, tried to cross the treacherous north channel of the Irish Sea, from Donaghadee in Ireland to Portpatrick in Scotland, a distance of 21 miles. Here is her own story of what happened:
Captain Orr Ewing put everything into perspective for me by quoting an old but true maxim: "It's better," he told me, "to have tried and failed than never to have tried at all." Indeed, if I had the chance to relive my life I would do it all again, because it is trying to do what you badly want to do that counts.