- Benoît Lecomte
Benoît Lecomte (born 1967) is a French long distance swimmer who was the first man to swim across the
Atlantic Ocean without a kick board in 1998. Benoit did this to raise money forcancer 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 anelectromagnetic 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 toQuiberon ,Brittany ,France . He stopped for 1 week in theAzores , 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.Google Maps
When asking for driving directions in Google Maps from the USA to Europe the instructions once included "Swim across the Atlantic Ocean," in a tribute to Lecomte. The directions would always have the start and end points of the swim be the wharf at Hyannis and Quinberon respectively, or the other way around if asking for directions from Europe to the US. Map is of Boston, not Hyannis [cite news |title=Screw air travel: Google suggests you get out and swim |url=http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2007/03/29/screw-air-travel-google-suggests-you-get-out-and-swim/ |accessdate=2008-05-27]
References
* [http://www.ambafrance-us.org/news/statmnts/2002/franceus082802.asp Report on Ben Lecomte] at the US French embassy website.
*"Swimming Around The World". [http://www.didyouknow.cd/aroundtheworld/swimming.htm http://www.didyouknow.cd/aroundtheworld/swimming.htm] . Retrieved 1 Aug 2004.
* [http://www.legendinc.com/Pages/ArchivesCentral/COTDArchives/1998/10198.html Additional background information]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/179862.stm Doubt reported on BBC News]Previous record
Guy Delage was the first person to swim across the Atlantic with the help of a kick board from the Cape Verde Islands to Barbados in 1994.
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