Cox Hoping to Attempt Bering Strait Swim Soon

Lynne Cox hopes to attempt her swim of the Bering Strait to Soviet soil between Aug. 5 and Aug. 12.

“The weather is a big factor. We could have delays,” the Los Alamitos woman said by phone from Nome, Alaska, Friday. “But the weather starts deteriorating after the middle of August.”

Cox, 30, has been in Nome since last weekend, training for the icy swim across the 2.7-mile-wide channel between the United States’ Little Diomede Island and the Soviet Union’s Big Diomede.

Organizers who have been negotiating with the Soviets said Friday there were indications that Soviet officials would soon grant official permission for Cox and her party to land on Big Diomede, where the only population is a Soviet Army garrison of 20 to 40 troops.

Because accommodations are minimal beyond Nome, she planned to remain there until the time for the attempt.

“It’s a little foggy and rainy, but it’s nice,” she said.

However, she was disappointed that the waters off Nome on the southern side of the Seward Peninsula were too warm at about 50 degrees.

“The water is a lot warmer than we anticipated,” she said. “We anticipated 42 degrees, (but) the area off Nome is very shallow.”

She said she expects the water between the Diomede islands in the middle of the Bering Strait to be between 34 and 39 degrees.

Otherwise, Cox said, “We’re getting all sorts of support from people in Nome.”

Cox will be accompanied by a handful of doctors and research scientists, including Dr. William Keetinge of London Hospital Medical College who wrote a book, “Survival in Cold Water.”