Benoit Lecomte
Encyclopedia
Benoît Lecomte is a French
long distance swimmer who has received wide credit for being the first man to swim across the Atlantic Ocean
without a kick board in 1998. He did this to raise money for cancer
research as a tribute to his father. During his 3,716 mile journey in 74 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 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
, Brittany
, France
. He stopped for 1 week in the Azores
, a Portuguese archipelago
in the Atlantic Ocean.
in 2012 from Japan
to California
. He plans to raise funds for research through his swimming. The distance to be covered is 5419 miles and plans to start the swim from Choshi, Japan.
Lecomte has already started training for his feat by bicycling, running, and swimming. The swimmer
would face similar challenges he had during the swim across the Atlantic Ocean such as warding off
sharks and facing strong currents.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/feb/09/aspen-womans-atlantic-swim-carries-asterisk/
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
long distance swimmer who has received wide credit for being the first man to swim across the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
without a kick board in 1998. He did this to raise money for cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
research as a tribute to his father. During his 3,716 mile journey in 74 days, he was followed by a support boat that had an electromagnetic field
Electromagnetic field
An electromagnetic field is a physical field produced by moving electrically charged objects. It affects the behavior of charged objects in the vicinity of the field. The electromagnetic field extends indefinitely throughout space and describes the electromagnetic interaction...
for 25 feet to ward off sharks. He did, however, still encounter sea turtles, dolphins, and jellyfish.
The feat 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
Hyannis, Massachusetts
Hyannis is the largest of seven villages in Barnstable, Massachusetts. Also it is the commercial and transportation hub of Cape Cod and was designated an urban area as a result of the 1990 census. Because of this, many refer to Hyannis as the "Capital of the Cape"...
to Quiberon
Quiberon
Quiberon is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France.It is situated on the southern part of the Quiberon peninsula, the northern part being the commune of Saint-Pierre-Quiberon...
, Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. He stopped for 1 week in the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
, a Portuguese archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Pacific Swim
Benoit Lecomte plans to swim the Pacific OceanPacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
in 2012 from Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. He plans to raise funds for research through his swimming. The distance to be covered is 5419 miles and plans to start the swim from Choshi, Japan.
Lecomte has already started training for his feat by bicycling, running, and swimming. The swimmer
would face similar challenges he had during the swim across the Atlantic Ocean such as warding off
sharks and facing strong currents.
Controversy
Since there is no standard definition of the feat "swimming across the Atlantic", there is uncertainty about the distance that Lecomte actually covered swimming in the water rather than riding in a boat: according to the Rocky Mountain News, Lecompte would have had to average 8 mph to have swum the entire distance, 3-4 times as fast as other long-distance swimmers.http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/feb/09/aspen-womans-atlantic-swim-carries-asterisk/
See also
- Guy DelageGuy DelageGuy Delage claims he is the first person to swim solo across the Atlantic Ocean . 16 December 1994....
, the first person to allegedly swim across the Atlantic with the help of a kick board from the Cape Verde Islands to Barbados in 1994. - Jennifer FiggeJennifer FiggeJennifer Figge is an American athlete from Aspen, Colorado. Born in Davenport, Iowa, Figge is the daughter of opera singer Margherita Roberti...
, allegedly the first woman to swim "across the Atlantic"