“It wasn’t like the English Channel that would have been biting off way too much for me, 21 miles, cold water, huge currents.?.?. “It was a combination of a challenge and something I thought I might be able to do,” says Sherr, 70, who swims with a masters class twice a week and does laps on her own once or twice a week - more once the weather warms up. If you don’t complete the swim in 90 minutes you get scooped out of the water, lest you get run over by a tanker. The Hellespont is a busy shipping lane that’s only a mile point to point but with currents so strong they can sweep a swimmer straight out into the Aegean. A classics scholar, Sherr was drawn by these stories to try her luck in the channel, although it’s far from the peaceful swimming she normally craves. Lord Byron, who crossed the rough waters in 1810, was more fortunate (and spent a lot of time bragging about his feat afterward, Sherr writes). Her inspiration? Leander in the legendary Greek tale of doomed romance, who swam the Hellespont to be with his true love, Hero.Īs so often happens in Greek mythology, things turned out badly for poor Leander and Hero. She also reports on an impossibly romantic challenge she set for herself: swimming the Hellespont, the channel in western Turkey separating Asia and Europe that is known today as the Dardanelles. She addresses topics such as the swimming abilities of giraffes, how Ben Franklin may have invented windsurfing and the horror of trying on bathing suits under fluorescent lighting. Sherr traces the history of swimming for recreation and competition. Swim: Why We Love the Water is lively and intriguing enough to refresh interest in the sport - as well as make you consider adding laps to your regular exercise regimen. Remember 2008, Beijing and Michael Phelps’ record-breaking eight gold medals? And at the end of July, the 2012 Olympics will remind forgetful Americans - as it does every four years - that as a competitive sport, swimming can be thrilling. Camps and swimming programs have geared up. It’s June, and the kids are out of school and into the pool. When I go do laps at my house on Long Island, my kids know if the phone rings, I’ll call back unless it’s an emergency.”Įven the grandkids know the drill: “They know when I go to my side of the pool, nobody gets in my way. When I’m swimming, that’s a moment nobody can get to me. “Like everybody, I’m bombarded with my BlackBerry, family, phone, deadlines.?.?.

“I like that quiet time,” says Sherr, author of Swim: Why We Love the Water.

But water means something more vital to ABC correspondent and avid swimmer Lynn Sherr: It means peace.

Perhaps this goes a long way toward explaining our affinity for water, even if we’re just floating around the pool with a cold beverage.

Our bodies are made up mostly of liquid so is our planet.

Swim by Lynn Sherr