Update 2: In a dramatic attempt to raise awareness about ocean plastic, Ben was the first person to attempt to swim from Tokyo, Japan to San Francisco, California. Ben successfully swam 1,500 NM (nautical miles). Unfortunately, after 165 days at sea, Ben and his team were forced to call off the swim due to irreparable damage to the mainsail. Though he wasn’t successful, it was still quite an adventure setting the stage for a successful attempt in the future.
Update 1: An adventure over 6 years in the making. Ben has finally begun. Back in October, 2015, when Ben, the first man to attempt to swim across the Pacific Ocean, finished prepping his support boat, he took some time to answer our question about his motivation: “I would say that I am not a swimmer, I am an adventurer who swims and uses his passion to get people’s attention on issues that are important to all of use but even more so to our children.”
I’m not an Olympic swimmer, I’m an adventurer who likes to swim.
Ben Lecomte
Benoît Lecomte will begin swimming across the Pacific Ocean in September. He has already swum across the Atlantic Ocean from Hyannis, Massachusetts to Quiberon, Brittany, France. He was followed by a great white shark for 5 days that was discouraged by an electromagnetic field his team had in the water. Ben, born in France and now a naturalized US citizen, says that he loves to swim but his journey is about raising awareness about the negative effects humans have had on the ocean environment.
He also has this to say: “Before anything else, I am a father and as a father the future of my children concerns me because, as we all know, our way of life is not sustainable. I don’t want to be passive and pass on to them the liability we are tagging on to our environment. We can all make a difference once we realize how we can be better stewards of the environment and our own ecological footprint, make appropriate daily changes and inspire others to do the same. This is the first goal of the Longest Swim. I want to use my passion to get people’s attention throughout the world because the solution is in our hands and we can take action to make the world a better place. The second goal is to encourage and work with the education systems in all countries to include classes on sustainability in their own curriculum, because, as we all know, sustainability starts with education.”
Follow Ben Lecomte’s journey.
