On a humid August day in 1981, 21-year-old Tamara Ennis set out on a catamaran with friends near Ormond Beach, Florida. When a leak flipped the boat three miles offshore, they clung to the hull in rising darkness and fear. Without life jackets, and after a Coast Guard search missed them, Tamara knew they had to act.

At dawn, she led the group swimming toward shore. Hours in, a shark attacked Christy, pulling her under. Devastated but determined, Tamara refused to panic. She slowed her breathing, kept her strokes smooth, and told herself to “think like a fish.” A rip current dragged her sideways, so she swam across it, setting small survival goals—minutes, then hours.

Alone, exhausted, Tamara was spotted by a lifeguard and rescued after swimming roughly nine miles. Her friends were found later; one had died. Despite advice to stay with the boat, Tamara trusts her choice saved her.

Her survival came from discipline: calm swimming, energy conservation, reading the water, and a clear SOS. Forty years on, Tamara remembers the ordeal as a lesson in resilience. She survived by keeping hope alive, fighting fear, and—most of all—never stopping. “I kept swimming,” she says simply.