Gertrude Ederle

The doctors told me my hearing would get worse if I continued swimming, but I loved the water so much, I just couldn't stop.

To me, the sea is like a person - like a child that I've known a long time. It sounds crazy, I know, but when I swim in the sea, I talk to it. I never feel alone when I'm out there.

Oh, I eat whatever I want whenever I want it.

If you can feel that Mother Earth is in you, and you are Mother Earth, then you are not any longer afraid to die because the earth is not dying. Like a wave appears and disappears and appears again.

I am happy to the spokeswoman for this French youth that tomorrow will be spearhead new hope in the shape of the National Front.