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.
Already 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 that Fourth of July morning in 1952, the sea was like an ice bath and the fog was so dense 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 quit. She never had... until then. With only a half mile to go, she asked to be pulled out.
Still thawing her chilled body several hours later, she told a reporter, "Look, 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 Catalina Channel, eclipsing the men's record by two hours!
弗洛伦斯·查德威克朝前望去，眼前了无一物，唯有一道浓浓的雾障。在海水里搏击了近16个小时，她四肢发麻，仿佛失去了知觉。
她已经是第一位成功地双向横渡英吉利海峡的女性。如今，34岁的她又立志要成为第一个从卡塔丽娜岛游到加利弗尼亚海岸的女性。
1952年7月4日早晨，海水冰冷刺骨，浓雾弥漫，她根本看不见支援的船队。成群的鲨鱼向孤零零的她游来，只有来复枪才能驱走它们。迎着冰冷的海水，她奋力向前游，一个小时，又一个小时。与此同时，数百万观众正在全国各地收看电视直播。
在弗洛伦斯身边的一艘护卫船上，母亲和教练不停地为她加油打气。他们告诉她，目标已经不远。但是，她所看见的只是眼前的一片浓雾。他们鼓励她不要放弃。她一直咬紧牙关坚持着。在离岸仅剩半英里的时候，她实在难以坚持了，要求别人将她拉上了船。
几个小时后，冰冷的身躯还没有暖和过来。她对一名记者说："瞧，我并不想为自己寻找借口，但是如果当时要能看到陆地的话，我也就可能成功了。"击败她的不是疲劳，也不是冰冷刺骨的海水，而是浓重的雾气。浓雾使她无法看到最终的目标。
两个月后，弗洛伦斯再一次进行尝试。这一次，依然是浓雾笼罩，但是她坚定了信念，把目标清晰地刻画在脑海里，奋勇向对岸游去。她知道浓雾背后所隐藏的就是陆地。这一次，她终于成功了！弗洛伦斯·查德威克成为世界上第一个成功横渡卡塔丽娜海峡的女性，并以两小时之差打破了男子纪录。