Years and years ago, and I’m talking decades, I remember a cartoon, perhaps in the New Yorker, called The Loneliness of the Long Distance Swimmer. The cartoon was black and white, and along the theme of the popular book and movie The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. I recall a poster showing a man from the back, running down a road, which winds away in the distance, like an art student’s study on perspective. The cartoon was similar, with a pool swimmer standing at the end of a pool lane, which winds away into the distance, over hills and dales, the lane disappearing into the far distance. I wish I could find that cartoon.
My search for the cartoon has led me to other art on the subject of marathon swimming. There are several for the English Channel.
Found one of the wonderful Florence Chadwick at the end of her Catalina crossing.
One of my all-time favorites is this beauty from across the pond.
Of course, the best artwork for channel swimming is a channel swimmer’s plot map of his/her own swim. I hope to have one of those one day, but for my dear reader(s) who don’t know what I’m talking about, here is one from friend of the blog, Evan.
That would look nice hanging on the wall, wouldn’t it? What’s your favorite marathon swimming artwork?