Thick fog had settled over the twenty mile stretch between Catalina Island and the California coastline. The thirty-four-year-old Florence Chadwick was already an accomplished swimmer, but on July 4, 1952, she was aiming to become the first woman to swim the Catalina Channel. Born in 1918, her love for swimming took shape at the age of ten years old, where she won her first competition. She would go on to become the first female to swim the English Channel in both directions with timed records, as well as the Strait of Gibraltar. These are just a few of her many accomplishments.
However, the summer she attempted to swim the Catalina Channel would prove to be a failure. Her support crew followed her in small boats, protecting her from potential shark attacks. After fifteen hours of grueling, nonstop swimming, she succumbed to exhaustion. Her team pulled her from the icy Pacific waters, only to discover she was one mile from the shore, yet could not see it because of the thick fog.
Disappointed that she gave up too soon, she said, “All I could see was the fog…I think if I could have seen the shore, I would have made it.” Her disappointment did not change her determination. She returned to the Catalina Channel two months later, and on September 20th, facing the same icy, shark-infested waters with just as much thick fog, she resolved to not quit. That day she became the first female to swim the Catalina Channel.
According to Galatians 6:9, it is always too soon to quit. Scripture encourages us to never give up. “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Perhaps all the conditions around you are telling you to quit, and maybe you have grown weary in your faith. If you don’t give in to exhaustion, you won’t give up just before the victory.
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