Экзаменационный (типовой) материал ОГЭ / Английский / 13-19 задание / 61

         Long distance swimming is the kind of swimming that can be quite difficult for even very good swimmers. When you swim in a swimming pool, a kilometer may seem to you a long distance. For real long-distance swimmers, who swim in open water, like in the sea or ocean, 1,500 meters is the shortest race there is. In addition, swimming in open water means the water itself is a lot deeper and colder, and there are many creatures that live in it that you can meet during your swim. So you have to be prepared for any surprises. And for that you need a lot of practice in this wild environment.
         Seventeen-year-old Lynne Cox was swimming near Seal Beach, California. She had entered the water for her morning workout at 5:00 a.m. She was alone in the dark ocean, but she didn’t mind. This was something she did every day and learnt to enjoy. Suddenly she felt something. It was all around her. At first, she had no idea what it was. But she was not afraid. A professional long-distance swimmer, she knew how to control her panic.
         Although she could feel something touching lightly her arms, legs and face, she continued swimming at her usual speed. Luckily, Cox soon understood that she was in the middle of a baby anchovy school, or group. The anchovy are very small fish, usually no bigger than 15 cm in length. The small fish were jumping out of the ocean trying to escape, or get away from, larger fish. Cox turned her face to breathe, and a fish jumped into her mouth! It was a grunion, the larger fish that the anchovy school was attempting to escape from!
         Cox spat out the grunion, but now she found that she was in the middle of a grunion school! Cox thought that her surprises would be over once the grunion fish passed her by, and so she continued swimming at her normal speed. However, she soon found that her adventures with the little fish were nothing compared to what happened next.
         As Cox was finishing her early morning swim, she saw a friend of hers at the end of a pier. A pier is a long structure built out from land over the water, where people can walk or boats can be tied. The friend was much farther out on the pier than usual. He was jumping up and down madly, waving his arms. Cox started swimming as fast as she could, trying to swim closer to the shore, afraid that her friend had seen a shark. She stopped when her friend cried out, “Don’t come any closer!”
          It turned out that a baby gray whale was following Cox! If she continued on to shore, the whale would hit the bottom of the sea and not be able to go back. Cox swam back out into deeper water, and the whale followed. Cox was asked to swim with the baby whale while lifeguards and fishermen looked for its mother. When lifeguards saw the terrified mother, looking for her baby, Cox led the baby in her direction. When the mother and baby were united, the mother swam 1.5 m away from Cox on the surface and then dove 1 m under Cox before swimming away with the baby safely following.

13. Long distance swimmers usually train in the swimming pool.