From the booklet "Bits and Pieces" comes an interesting story about Florence Chadwick, the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions. On the Fourth of July in 1951, she attempted to swim from Catalina Island to the California coast. The challenge was not so much the distance, but the bone-chilling waters of the Pacific. To complicate matters, a dense fog lay over the entire area, making it impossible for her to see land. After about 15 hours in the water, and within a half mile of her goal, Chadwick gave up. Later she told a reporter, "Look, I'm not excusing myself. But if I could have seen land, I might have made it." Not long afterward she attempted the feat again.

Once more, a misty veil obscured the coastline, and she couldn't see the shore. But this time she made it, because she kept reminding herself that land was there. With that confidence, she bravely swam on and achieved her goal. In fact, she broke the men's record by 2 hours!