Film: Kim Swims

For today, next film up on Amazon Prime was Kim Swims. Another story of someone who bucks the trend, this is a documentary about a woman who, eh, swims in the shark-infested waters off California. Well, each to their own..

And with almost nothing but sport on telly, I had plenty of time to watch it! A good day to be in too, with intermittent torrential showers. It's just over an hour long - and apparently this wasn't a random course, she had in mind the stretch of water between the Golden Gate Bridge (she lives in San Francisco) and the Farallon Islands, a wildlife sanctuary about thirty miles offshore. Turns out she wasn't the first, two men had preceded her - but no women. They had both swum back to shore - she had it in mind to swim the other way, out to the islands - until someone tried it, and had to abandon the idea. The waters out by the islands are shark-infested, and as they say, if you're going to meet them, better you be rested and clear-minded at the start, rather than exhausted at the end of your swim!

They're short on practical info in this film - I couldn't catch the name of the islands until they put it on screen, having mentioned the name several times already. The start of the film is the story of a young woman with an almost unbelievable level of determination - one of the most poignant moments of the film is when she tells us how a simple fall down the stairs, when she hit her leg on a ceramic vase, meant she nearly lost the leg. But they never mention at all that she got into swimming during rehab, after that accident.

So, you know, never one to do things by halves, she duly became a "marathon swimmer", completing the Ocean's Seven challenge, swimming seven of the most difficult straights in the world. One of her pals describes how, before swimming the coldest - the North Channel - she spent six months taking cold showers, to prepare. And although I quickly detected a foreign accent, it isn't until after over 20 minutes in that they mention she's a Kiwi! Ah well then, that explains the bloody minded determination - they're a bit crazy, down there. It's not for nothing that a Kiwi was first to climb Mount Everest. They cannot see a challenge without wanting to give it a go.. and the harder the better.

So yeah, for someone such as myself, with no interest in swimming, the details leave me a bit cold. But the film itself is cleverer than that, finding lots of interesting folk to interview. Such as the first man to complete this challenge she's set herself - old and wizened now, he's happy to chat as they cuddle inflatable sharks. And when it gets into the swim proper, and her mother flies over from New Zealand, and all her friends are backing her - ah jeez, it's quite moving. 17 hours, it took her - imagine constantly swimming for that time. Yep, very interesting - and quite soothing, with the vast expanse of water lapping around her. I had a nap after.

Tomorrow is back to film again - and I'm intrigued by one that's come up in ratings. A Dog's Journey turns out to be the sequel to A Dog's Purpose, which was on telly some months back - that covered the story of a dog living multiple lives, but ultimately coming back to his original owner, now grown up into Dennis Quaid. And which I found touching. The sequel has the same, reincarnated dog looking after the daughter, as she grows up and moves away. Also on Amazon Prime.