Who was the first person to swim from the United States to the Soviet Union?

So you've got nothing better to do? Why not take a nice, easy swim across the Bering Strait to the Soviet Union? No? Well, Lynne Cox had other ideas.

On Aug. 7, 1987, with the Cold War winding down, the then 30-year-old American did the unthinkable. She swam one of the coldest waters on the planet (average 43 to 44 degrees Fahrenheit), crossing the 2.3 miles between the island of Little Diomede, Alaska to Big Diomede (then part of the USSR) in two hours, five minutes. It was the first time anyone had ever made the trek. At the time of her swim, travel between the two islands was prohibited despite the Eskimo populations on both lands being related. The population of Big Diomede was moved to the Russian mainland after World War II.

Cox's swim drew praise from both President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

Later in December, at the signing of the INF Missile Treaty at the White House, Gorbachev toasted Reagan and then acknowledged Cox's accomplishment.

"Last summer it took one brave American by the name of Lynne Cox just two hours to swim from one of our countries to the other. We saw on television how sincere and friendly the meeting was between our people and the Americans when she stepped onto the Soviet shore. She proved by her courage how close to each other our peoples live".

Cox also swam for more than a mile in the waters of Antarctica. She swam for 25 minutes. She published a book on that swim, "Swimming to Antarctica", in 2004.