Why We Swim

My name is Bonnie Tsoi. I'm a journalist and the author of the book Why We Swim.

So a few years ago I went to Iceland to participate in this annual swim that happens on this island called Heimey, and it's in honor of a man named Gudlugur Fridthorsen who in 1984 was working as a fisherman when his boat capsized and he swam six kilometers over six hours in 41 degree water to safety.

You know, in 41 degree water you and I would die within 20 to 30 minutes from hypothermia, but he survived and it turned out that he, in addition to being a great swimmer, his fat was two to three times normal human thickness and it was like he was more like a seal than a human.

There's this great book called Why We Swim by Bonnie Toy. She talks about why humans swim, what our attraction to water is.

There's this great book called Why We Swim by Bonnie Toy. She talks about why humans swim, what our attraction to water is.

It's called Why We Swim. It's an argument that I think any swimmer would get a lot of value out of. It's a deeply philosophical and moving sort of ode to the wonderfulness of swimming.

I absolutely loved the book.

I wrote a lot of Why We Swim in the pool or, you know, out on the water, swimming in open water or surfing or something like that.