Lynne Cox spoke at the Petersburg Public Library Saturday about her experience as a long-distance swimmer and as an author.

Cox has traveled the world, setting record times including the world record time for swimming across the English Channel on two occasions when she was only a teenager. Since then, Cox has become an author, citing a lifelong love of reading as her inspiration.

"I have always been a reader," Cox said. "I've always loved books and always loved that you could just open a book and open a world." Ever since a young age she knew that her goal in life was to become an author.

In...