Crossing the Channel 勇渡英吉利海峡
[audio]http://file.24en.com/bbc/tae/assets_6584649/bbc_tae_283_channel_crossing_au_bb.mp3[/audio][color=#3f3f3f][font=Verdana, 宋体, helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=12px][p=21, 2, left]To cross the English Channel – the stretch of water between England and France - is [b]no mean feat[/b]. At its narrowest point, it is 34km wide - a big challenge for a good swimmer,[b]let alone[/b] for one with neither legs nor arms. But being a [b]quadruple amputee[/b] did not prevent 42-year-old Philippe Croizon from doing exactly that.[/p][p=21, 2, left][b]Against all odds[/b], the Frenchman, who had his limbs [b]amputated [/b]after he suffered an electric shock 16 years ago, completed the crossing in less than 14 hours.[/p][p=21, 2, left]He used [b]prosthetic f[/b][b]lippers[/b] to [b][url=http://d.24en.com/s/?wd=propel]propel[/url] h[/b][b]imself forward[/b] and the [b]stumps[/b]that were left of his arms [b]to stabilise[/b] himself on the water.[/p][float=right][img=226,170]http://www.24en.com/d/file/bbc/bbc2/2010-09-23/d62cdb573cababd12105dd7d207f829e.jpg[/img][p=30, 2, left]Philippe found the swim hard but never gave up[/p][/float]
[p=21, 2, left]The crossing was hard but Croizon never [b]gave up[/b]. He said: "My back hurt, my chest hurt, my shoulders hurt, but at no point was I going to abandon this swim."[/p][p=21, 2, left]"I've done this for myself, for my family, and for all my [b]fellows in misfortune [/b]who have lost their taste for life," the swimmer added.[/p][p=21, 2, left]It is not the first time Croizon [b]has m[/b][b]ade headlines[/b]. He became famous in 2007 for [b]parachuting[/b] from an aeroplane and wrote a book about his experiences.[/p][p=21, 2, left]It took him two years of preparation to cross the Channel. He trained for 35 hours a week.[/p][p=21, 2, left]This [b]will to o[/b][b]vercome adversity [/b]also motivated many of the athletes seen at the Paralympic Games in Beijing in 2008.[/p][p=21, 2, left]Specially-adapted [b]wheelchairs, blades [/b]to be used instead of legs and other equipment can help their performances but [b]tenacity[/b] is their main tool.[/p][p=21, 2, left]The South African disabled swimmer Natalie du Toit is missing part of her left leg but she keeps her focus. "The tragedy of life does not lie in not reaching your goals; the tragedy of life lies in not having goals to reach for," she says.[/p][p=21, 2, left]The first ever [b]monitored[/b] swim across the Channel was by Englishman Matthew Webb in 1875 and took almost 22 hours.[/p][p=21, 2, left]The record for crossing the channel is 7 hours and 3 minutes, set by the German swimmer Christof Wandratsch in 2005.[/p][/size][/font][/color]
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