nothing, she never spoke to me about swimming at all. in fact, she lied about the fact that she was a swimmer to the neighbours that she lived with. you know, she was challenged, you know, you re mercedes gleitze, aren t you? she would deny who she was? it s laughable because it s obvious who she was, but she denied who she was because she didn t want that life any more. now, her life and the story of her repeated attempts to prove she really had 5wum the channel has been turned into a film. kirsten callaghan has spent three years training and swimming the swims. sometimes, if i lost my nerve, i would have to say, what would mercedes do, what would mercedes do? because she always stayed calm. itjust made me appreciate mercedes more for what she did, and how brave she was, to do it, and to do it alone. yes, she did it all on her own. a secretary who swam in her spare time and used herfame to raise money to build housing for the homeless. finally receiving a little of the recognition