Swimming to Antarctica_ Tales of a Long-Distance Swimmer - Lynne Cox [76]
John was trying to take the walkie-talkie from the skiff captain so he could talk directly to Captain Furniss. He shouted at me, but I couldn’t hear him over the roar of the water and wind. He cupped his hands around his mouth and told me to sprint with everything I had for the headland at the far right. The frogmen had been ordered to stay beside me no matter what, and he thought he could reach Captain Furniss in time to catch up to us. He told me to go. The tide was racing at maybe ten knots by now, and the strength of the whirlpool was growing. Immediately, I cut to the right and swam with all my strength. Glancing back over my shoulder, I saw John and the skiff captain caught on the outer edge of the whirlpool.
The storm was strengthening, and the tide was surging, dragging me toward the Atlantic Ocean. The frogmen in the Zodiac were cheering and clapping. We were a quarter mile from shore. When I saw one of the frogmen point toward the headland, I summoned all the power I had. A second whirlpool was forming where we intended to finish. This one was one hundred yards across, and we were headed right for it. I glanced to my left and saw John and the skiff captain motoring toward us at full speed. They were okay. But everything was happening as if on fast forward. The frogmen were shouting at me at the top of their lungs to make a sharp right and sprint for shore. We were within fifty yards of the whirlpool off the headlands. And another one was taking shape, just below it.
We turned more sharply right. Now we were less than two hundred yards from shore. But the force of a whirlpool increases in shallow waters. For the moment, I was in ten feet of water. I saw the sandy bottom rushing to my left, felt the water coiling around me, felt my breath tightening, and saw the water grow murky. The whirlpool churned up sand, filled my swimsuit with it, and chafed my skin. I slid sideways toward the whirlpool’s center. The frogmen pulled within inches of my right side to protect me. One man leaned against a pontoon, steadying himself, about to grab me and pull me from the water. They were shouting, but their voices sounded distant behind the veil of wind and waves. With everything I had left, I sprinted.
When I tried to stand, the current ripped my feet out from under me. I tried again and tumbled. I was only five yards from shore and I couldn’t get in.
Sonnichsen and the skiff captain pulled ahead and landed. Two frogmen jumped into the water to help me in to shore. One attempted to grab hold of me, but I veered away. If he touched me, I would be disqualified, under channel swimming rules. I put my head down and sprinted until my stomach scraped the sand; then I crawled out on all fours. It wasn’t very graceful, but it didn’t matter. In one hour and three minutes we had made it across the Strait of Magellan. I was the first person in the world to make the swim.
The storm was hitting the strait hard now. This time, Captain Furniss didn’t even attempt to land the Elicura.
The frogmen quickly helped me into their boat, and we motored out to the ship. All of us were elated, but we couldn’t let our guard down yet; waves were washing into the inflatable and the skiff.
Climbing up the ship’s ladder was even hairier than the first time, but I was glad I’d done it before, because this time my hands were numb and I couldn’t tell if I had a good hold on the rungs. The boat was swaying more than before, and I was really scared, but kept moving up the ladder. When I reached the top Captain Furniss wrapped a towel around my shoulders, hugged me, and said congratulations. He said he was sorry, but it was too dangerous to land the ship, so we would have to ride back to Punta Arenas through the gale. Excited, I told him I thought that was great; I’d never been on a ship during a gale. Captain Furniss grinned; he was happy too—we had accomplished a lot. But he had to make sure that Sonnichsen and his men and their boat got safely on board, so he handed me over to Dr. Fernandez, who gave me a huge, warm hug.