Benoit Lecomte

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Benoit Lecomte is a long distance swimmer from France born in 1967 who was the first person to swim across the Atlantic Ocean in 1998. He did this to raise money for cancer research as a tribute to his father. During his 3,716 mile journey in 73 days, he was followed by a support boat that had an electromagnetic field for 25 feet to ward off sharks. He did however still encounter Sea Turtles, Dolphins, and Jellyfish.

The feat, performed in 1998, took him 72 days, with 6-8 hours spent swimming each day in sessions of about two hours length. He was accompanied by associates in a boat, where he could rest and eat between each swimming period. The swim extended from Hyannis, Massachusetts to Quiberon, France. He stopped for 1 week in the Azores, a Portuguese archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. He achieved the goal in 72 days, and took lots of practice to get across. He had many fans once he reached land. Lecomte is now looking forward to swimming across the Pacific Ocean to the Phillipines.

[edit] References

• Report on Ben Lecomte at the US French embassy website.
• Swimming Around The World. http://www.didyouknow.cd/aroundtheworld/swimming.htm. Retrieved 1 Aug 2004.
• Additional background information