Original version

BBC World Service Australasia

Migrated podcast image for: Outlook

Outlook

Factual: Life Stories

True stories of ordinary people and the extraordinary events that have shaped their lives

True stories of ordinary people and the extraordinary events that have shaped their lives.

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

Outlook: How to give up

Magazines & Reviews

Beth French

20/05/2019 GMT

How to give up

BBC World Service - Outlook, How to give up

Why extreme swimmer Beth French doesn’t regret giving up on her life’s ambition

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.)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Outlook

How to give up

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service Australasia

About BBC World Service