Diana Smith's Web Dispatches

Swimming the Hellespont, 200 Years Later

"It is 200 years since the poet Lord Byron swam the Hellespont, commemorating the feat in a poem and setting off a mania for swimming throughout Europe. He said it was his proudest moment...Swimming gave Byron, lame as he was, some of the most exhilarating moments of his life. Only in swimming was he able to experience complete freedom of movement and freedom was a state he aspired to in all things..." http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00s8f1x

Unfortunately the above BBC radio broadcast is no longer available online. However, here is Becky Horsbrugh's account of how she attempts to cross this famous stretch of water during a commemorative swim held on the bicentennial of Byron's accomplishment.  

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/may/06/hellespont-swim-byron

Which of course brings me to my favourite swimming book, "Haunts of the Black Masseur: The Swimmer as Hero", written by Hellespont swimmer Charles Sprawson.

http://www.amazon.ca/Haunts-Black-Masseur-Swimmer-Hero/dp/0816635390

Posted at 11:11AM May 24, 2010 by Diana Smith in General  |  Comments[0]