Gibraltar’s challenges include freighters, mountainous swells and gale-like winds. The Gibraltar Crossing is one of the Oceans Seven, a group of marathon swims that includes the English Channel. On one side of the Strait is Africa and on the other is Europe.

The 15K Strait of Gibraltar is one of the world’s great passages, connecting the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. Over the years that followed, I found a hero, Lynne Cox, who pioneered the use of swimming to “establish bridges between borders.” The next day, I invited local kids to drown-proofing classes, and, by August, they were equipped to survive in freezing water. What a mean boy you are!”Īt 17, as a summer volunteer in Newfoundland, I was surprised that cod fishermen were drowning from panic and water aspiration. Later that day, my mother yelled, “You bit his wrist like a damned dog. I was four and my swim teacher was squeezing my chest too tightly.

It all started inauspiciously at UNC’s Bowman Gray pool. For me, when I am in the sea, all is well with the world. I read about the Gibraltar Crossing and realized that the idea of swimming from Spain to Morocco allayed my worries about turning 70. Above: Tito Craige and Leslie Fanning about to touch Morocco.Īs I waited for my first Social Security check, I decided to push the envelope with swimming, a sport I’d practiced for six decades.

Chapel hill parks and rec basketball