Further Reading and Viewing

When I decided I wanted to swim the English Channel, I knew little about what it would entail. I had thought about swimming it since childhood, but to reassure myself that this strange ambition was actually achievable, I read and watched whatever I could find.

These are the books and films that helped me most, together with some later additions I would turn to if I were starting now.

Books

These were the books that mattered most to me. They taught me what was possible. Midway through the English Channel, when things became tough, they came back to me. If Lynne Cox could cope with the frozen Antarctic, or Martin Strel could keep going day after day in the Amazon, then I could deal with my own little challenge.

Dover Solo – Marcia Cleveland

A practical and personal guide to the English Channel, blending detailed advice with the author's own experience. It is one of the reasons I wrote A Life Well Swum. Dover Solo inspired me, and I hope my book might do the same for the next generation.

Find out more at www.doversolo.com