Los Alamitos Resident to Speak at SDSU Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Lecture

Back on August 8, 1987, the Los Angeles Times published the following story from a historic event the day before:

Exhausted, half-frozen but exhilarated, Lynne Cox stumbled ashore to a Russian picnic buffet here Friday after swimming the icy Bering Strait from Little Diomede Island in the U.S. to the Soviets' Big Diomede in 2 hours, 5 minutes.

Los Alamitos resident Cox was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame, set world records for open-water swimming, was named a Los Angeles Times Woman of the Year, and honored with a lifetime achievement award from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

She will discuss her career in a fascinating lecture at San Diego State University from 10 am-12 pm on Tuesday, Sept. 13. Open to the public, “A Swimmer’s Heart” is offered through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at SDSU, which offers programs to curious learners age 50 and better.

Until Cox swam the 2.7-mile part of the Bering Strait where the International Dateline marks the only common border between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, nobody had even attempted it. Cox covered the distance in 44-degree water, swimming without a wet suit or grease over her thin Speedo swimsuit.

Vitaly Medjannikov, a Soviet swim coach who was in the reception party on that historic day, told the Los Angeles Times: “This is very much risk, very difficult. Lynne Cox is a hero, a women's hero.”

At the signing of the INF Missile Treaty, Soviet Leader Gorbachev told President Reagan: “Last summer it took one brave American by the name of Lynne Cox just two hours to swim from one of our countries to the other. She proved by her courage how close to each other our peoples live.”

A signed copy of Cox’s latest book “Swimming in the Sink: An Episode of the Heart,” is included with registration to the OLLI event. Cost is $59 for the general public and $39 for OLLI members. Discussion topics will include how an individual can affect the emotional state of a society, and the effect of physical training on the body and mind.

To register or for more information, visit neverstoplearning.net/olli, call (619) 594-2863, or email osher@mail.sdsu.edu. The registration deadline is Tuesday, Sept. 6.