"Literature is filled with allusions to swimming. Longfellow's Kwasind, in Hiawatha, caught a beaver after a long underwater cruise; Beowulf and Breca swam seven nights in the swollen seas, carrying their swords with them to fight off whale fishes; Dumas' hero Edmond Dantes escaped by swimming from the Chateau to the Isle of Tiboulen; and Leander swam across the Hellespont, the narrow strait that divided Europe and Asia. Perhaps the most poignant tale ever written about a swimmer occurs in that charming short story, The Tale of James Carabine by Donn Byrne, the Irish author. The swimmer was not successful and paid with his life. His name was Bartley McGeehan, known as Swimmer McGeehan, the Swan of Ireland or the Marine Marvel, as he was billed in the circus. He had once swum between Ireland and Scotland over the stormy waters of Moyle."