When she looked ahead, Florence Chadwick saw nothing but a solid wall of fog. Her body was numb. She had been swimming for nearly sixteen hours.
She was the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions. Now, at age 34, her goal was to become the first woman to swim from Catalina Island to the California coast.
On the morning of July 4th, 1952, the sea was like an ice bath and the fog was so dense that she could hardly see her support boats. Sharks cruised toward her lone figure, only to be driven away by rifle shots. Against the frigid grip of the sea, she struggled on hour after hour, while millions watched on national television.
Alongside Florence in one of the boats, her mother and her trainer offered encouragement. They told her it wasn't much farther, but all she could see was fog. They urged her not to give up. She never had…until then. With only a half mile to go, she asked to be pulled out.
After warming her chilled body several hours later, she told a reporter, “I'm not excusing myself, but if I could have seen land I might have made it.” It was not fatigue or even the cold water that defeated her. It was the fog. She was unable to see her goal.
Two months later, she tried again. This time, despite the same dense fog, she swam with her faith intact and her goal clearly pictured in her mind. She knew that somewhere behind that fog was land and this time she made it! Florence Chadwick became the first woman to swim the Channel, eclipsing the men's record by two hours!
【助读词汇】
-cruise v. 巡游，巡航
-frigid adj. 很冷的，长期严寒的
-thaw v. 变暖和，解冻
-fatigue n. 疲乏，疲劳 v.（使）疲劳
-intact adj. 尚未被人碰过的，完整的
-eclipse v. 使……黯然失色，给……投下阴影
【参考译文】
当她抬起头往前看时，佛罗伦斯·查威维克看到的只是一堵严实的雾墙。她的身体没了知觉。她已经游了将近16个小时。
她是第一个来回游过英吉利海峡的女人。当时她34岁，她的目标是成为第一个从卡达琳纳岛游到加利福尼亚海岸的女人。1952年6月4号的早晨，大海就像装满冰块的浴缸，迷雾蒙蒙，她几乎看不见引导她的船。鲨鱼围着形单影只的她转，只有来福枪的子弹能把它们驱走。一个小时接着一个小时过去了，她与大海强劲的手腕搏斗着，同时全国成千上万的观众正在电视机前收看。
在佛罗伦斯旁边的一艘船上，她的母亲和教练在鼓励着他。他们告诉她，目标不远了，但是她看到的只有雾。他们鼓励她不要放弃。她一直没有放弃，但直到仅剩半公里的时候，她放弃了，她要求上船。
她冻僵的身体暖和几个小时后，她对一个记者说：“我不是在为自己找借口，但是如果我当时能看到陆地，我可能游得到目的地了。”打败她的不是疲劳和冰冷的海水，而是迷雾。她看不到她的目的地。
两个月后，她又试了一次。这一次，尽管还是有大雾，她仍信念坚定地游着，目标清清楚楚地在她脑海里。她知道陆地一定在那重重大雾后面的某个地方，这一次她成功了。佛罗伦斯·查威维克成了第一个穿越海峡的女人，比男性记录快了两个小时。
【人生启迪】
法国思想家孟德斯鸠说过：“知道多久才能成功常常决定成功与否。”要成功，首先我们要明确目标，第二要估算出达到目标需要花去的时间。把这两项铭记于心，我们才能保持士气，力破重重关卡，抵达成功的彼岸。