Fifteen years after setting a world record in the English Channel, 30-year-old American endurance swimmer Lynne Cox entered the 38°F (3.3°C) waters of the Bering Strait and completed a historic 2.7-mile swim from the United States to the Soviet Union. On 7 August 1987, Cox swam from Little Diomede Island in Alaska to Soviet-controlled Big Diomede Island. Her journey crossed the International Date Line and the heavily guarded border between the two Cold War superpowers. Records from the National Park Service (NPS) Shared Beringia Heritage Program document how the swim followed an 11-year effort by Cox to receive permission from Soviet leaders. Her arrival on Soviet territory became an important moment in US-Soviet relations. Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan later praised the achievement during their historic nuclear arms talks in Washington that year.
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