The Resume

(1957- )
Born in Boston, Massachusetts
Long distance, cold water swimmer
Member of the first group of swimmers to cross the 31-mile Catalina Channel in California (1971)
First woman to swim Cook Strait in New Zealand (1975)
First person to swim the Straits of Magellan in Chile (1976)
Swam from Little Diomede in Alaska to Big Diomede in the then-USSR (August 7, 1987)
Wrote the books ‘Swimming to Antarctica’ (2004), ‘Grayson’ (2006), ‘South with the Sun’ (2011) and ‘Open Water Swimming: An Expert’s Survival Guide’ (2013)
Inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame (2000)

Why she might be annoying:

She has 36% body fat instead of the normal 18 to 25%.
Her swim between the Diomedes is often described as ‘crossing the Bering Strait,’ when she swam just 2.3 miles between islands rather than the 51 miles separating the mainlands of Alaska and Russia.
After swimming over a mile in 32-degree (0 Celsius) waters off Antarctica, it took months for her to regain the feeling in her fingers and toes (2002).

Why she might not be annoying:

That 36% body fat gives her neutral buoyancy (her body’s density is the same as that of seawater), letting her put all her energy into propulsion instead of staying afloat.
She twice set the speed record (for both men and women) for crossing the English Channel: 9 hr. 57 min. in 1972, 9 hr. 36 min. in 1973.
She refuses to wear a wet suit in frigid waters or use a cage in shark-filled waters.
Her ability to withstand cold was studied by Navy Seals for training purposes.
During the signing of the INF Missile Treaty at the White House, Mikhail Gorbachev toasted her, saying ‘She proved by her courage how close to each other our peoples live.’

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• An Asteroid was Named in My Honor (Ranked: 37588)
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 65]
• Glamour Women of the Year - 14th Annual [2003]
• I Attended University of California, Santa Barbara
• Look at Me, I'm Wearing a Swim Cap
• Look at Me, I'm Wet
• Profiles 41006-41250 (Ranked: 41055)
• Starbucks ‘The Way I See It’ Quotations
• Swimmers

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 21 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 8 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 8 Votes: 37.50% Annoying