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How to give up

Beth French vowed to swim seven of the world’s most dangerous ocean channels in a year. She faced sharks and rip currents. But it was something closer to home that made her stop.

British swimmer Beth French has chronic fatigue syndrome, and when she was a teenager, she even spent a year in a wheelchair. So years later, when she swam all the way from England to France – and was still home in time to put her son to bed – she knew she’d done something really special. But then Beth set herself an impossible challenge – she vowed to swim seven of the world’s most dangerous ocean channels in a single year. She faced sharks and rip currents. But it was something closer to home that made her stop. She tells Outlook’s Jo Fidgen her story.

Tito Quiroz used to wave up at the inmates of the prison next door to his university in Ensenada, Mexico, and they'd wave back from their cell windows. Then, one day, he got the opportunity to go inside to teach them his passion, the violin. Tito endured the somewhat intimidating atmosphere inside, and found an audience desperate to learn. One man in particular would use the music he was imbued with to turn his life around.

(Image: Beth French swimming. Photo credit: Oceans 7 Films.)

Available now

53 minutes

Last on

Tue 21 May 2019 03:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Mon 20 May 2019 11:06GMT
  • Mon 20 May 2019 15:06GMT
  • Mon 20 May 2019 17:06GMT
  • Mon 20 May 2019 20:06GMT
  • Tue 21 May 2019 02:06GMT
  • Tue 21 May 2019 03:06GMT

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Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary

Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary

Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected