On July 4, 1952, Florence Chadwick attempted to be the 1st woman to swim across the Catalina Channel.
The Catalina Channel is 40 KM wide.
The water is ice-cold with strong currents and is infested by sharks.
But that didn’t deter her.
She started her swim after midnight, while it was still dark.
She swam and swam.
And was making good progress.
But after 15 hours, a thick fog appeared.
It was so thick she couldn’t see her hands.
But she decided to keep swimming.
She swam for the next hour.
And quit.
When the boat accompanying her brought her to the shore, she realized she was less than 1 mile away.
She later said, “…if I could have seen land, I know I could have made it.”
2 months later, on September 22, 1952, she tried again.
After a few hours, the same thick fog appeared
But this time, she was prepared.
But she kept swimming and became the 1st woman to cross the Catalina Channel.
She later said that when the fog appeared, she kept a mental image of the shoreline and kept swimming.
It’s important to be able to see your goal.