Imperial Valley press., 1925-09-07
By SIDNEY J. WILLIAMS
Omitted Press Staff Correspondent

LONDON, (Bv mail to the United
Press. The last bitter moments of
a swimmer 5 struggle to conquer the
English Channel form an ordeal ter
riblc to behold
Picture Il gasping. benumbed man
or woman-who has expended his
or her last ounce of energy; chilled
to the bone; fatigued into scmicon
seriousness. bruised from buffetin =
waves: fighting to reach the white
chalk cliffs of Dover, and w.n the
greatest victory 4 swimmer can ac.
complish.
Failure is followed by an awful
quarter of an hour.
Powerful men like Wolfe ana
Burgess have beeu known to sink
and were only rescued with utmost
difficulty from drowning.
| saw Colonel "Tiny' Freybcrg
-,hc is Il sjX.footer and weights
over $50 pomds-vainIy trying to
reach the cliffs between Dover and
Deal. only 4 mere 800 wards away,
during the tlosing minutes of his
recent magnificent attempt when
he had swan Il hours through a
long. chilly night.
His face was spent and drawn.
His body was like raw meat from
the huffeting it had received from
the sea. One eve was badly swollen.
He was scmi-conSciouS. bat his will
was iudomitable. Sporadically he
would rouse himself and battle anew
with the ever-iucreasing force of
the ebD-tidc.
Began to Moan
He began to moan. We ON the
escorting tug could barely force our.
selves to look at. his struggles
Sears left from his. pumerablc- war
wounds showed NJ Vivid!r through
rhc patches ruf grease still ci,nging
70 his body.
No one spoke excepting Mrs. Frey
berg. For minutes ON end she en-
touraged her husband with every
whim and artifiee She could bring
into play. All to no avail. Tn
channel WAS gradually beating OF
another heroic effort.
Finally complete exhaustion over.
came Freyberg's wiil-power. H.
began to sink. Swimmers on the
tug ami in the sea rushed to his
aid willing arms were thrown
around him ana he WAS carried to
the rowing boat alongside the tug
Freybcrg was helpless to and
himself. He lay like a log in his
rescucrs arms. 1t was many min
uteS before his wife and trainer
could envelop him in hot blankets,
and lay him beside The smoke stack
to warm up.
y gallant attempt, but the grey,
grim channel had won out again.
Swimmers who have been in the
water for many hours are very sus-
ccptiblc to small influences.
When | climbed aboard til" tug
cscorting Frcybcrg, Mrs. Frcvbcrg
rushed to me and asked mo f |
Wouldly remove my hat and rufflc
my hair.
She explained that if her hus-
band spotted me from the water
looking fresh and alert, it would
be enough to discourage him from
continuing the attempt.
MademOiscilc Sion, the - wear
old French swimmer, whose recent
magnificent failure only - mile and
Il quarter from Dover, viii live in
the history of women 5 attempts
suffered untold agonicS when the
cook on the tug escorted her was
preparing breakfast for those on
board.
Mademoiscllc Sion had had only
one meal since she entered the wa
ter shortly after eight the precious
evening. Seven hours Of seem
inglv endless night had passed since
she had tasted food. The smell of
the meal under preparation reached
her.
Last Tragic Hours
Vital hunger assailcd her. She
tried all She knew to escape from
the smell. She begged for food.
Only hot bccf-tca could be given
her She struggled ON. The swim
was entering the last tragic hours.
One Of the main contributorv fac
tors Of her failure can be pat down
to the physical agonics she endured
when hunger assailcd her during the
early hours Of the morning.
Dover boatmen, who have spent a
lifetime on the waterfront, are with,
ont doubt the finest judges as to
whether a swimmer viii be success
full or not.
Never once have known them to
20 wrong.