Downstream

both my hands, for fear of
losing it. – Pox take the
boats! Amen.’
Benjamin Franklin, who
would become one of the
‘founding fathers’ of the
United States of America,
also swam at Chelsea. During
a stay in England in 1726 he
showed off his swimming
skills on a Thames excursion
with friends: ‘At the request
of the company, I stripped
and leaped in the river, and