Swimming 5,500 Miles across the Pacific Ocean with Ben Lecomte
Podcast Highlights with Ben Lecomte:
- From Tokyo to San Francisco in the name of sustainability –The LONGEST Swim
- Why would Ben swim across the Pacific Ocean
- What will he think about while he swims eight hours a day, every day for six months?
- How long did it take for Ben to swim the Atlantic Ocean ten years ago?
- What are the biggest challenges he will face to finish?
- How the lessons Ben learns in the ocean change how he lives on land
- Follow Ben’s progress on Twitter
- Follow The Longest Swim on Instagram
- Follow The Longest Swim on Facebook
Click to Listen to the Podcast interview with Ben
The Swim (from the LongestSwim.com)
Departure from Tokyo early 2016… Arrival San Francisco 6 months later
“Never again” Ben Lecomte said after completing the first swim in history across the Atlantic Ocean without a kickboard in 1998. In effect, for the past years he has been feeling as a fish out of water… he is now ready for his next challenge : to swim across the Pacific Ocean, from Tokyo to San Francisco.
To complete this 5,500 miles journey, Ben will be swimming 8 hours a day during approximately 6 months. He will be accompanied by 6 crew members and his 83 ft. support boat, the “Stella” that will guide him and bring him back every morning at the exact GPS location where he stopped swimming the day before to resume his swim.
The Longest Swim is more than just a swim, it is a unique adventure that provides a platform for science and sustainability:
As citizen scientists, Ben and his crew will be collecting samples during the entire journey to contribute to oceanic and medical research led by several science partners.
Rather than just an event, The Longest Swim is a vehicle to get people’s attention on growing environmental and sustainability issues. The audience will follow this adventure, interact with Ben and his crew via video streaming and social media, and have the opportunity to take action to minimize their impact on the environment.
The Numbers
5,500 miles from Tokyo to San Francisco 1,000 miles through the Great Pacific Garbage Patch 1,440 hours in the water 180 days in the Ocean 8 hours swim per day 8,000 calories per day 3 years in training
Ben’s Bio (Why he’s qualified to accomplish this huge challenge?)
The first man to swim across the Atlantic in 1998 (Boston, USA to Quiberon, France)
Ben Lecomte was born in France in 1967 and is an accomplished long distance swimmer, now a naturalized citizen of the U.S.A. Ben 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 and awareness for cancer research as a tribute to his father.
During his 3,716 mile journey, he was accompanied by a 40 ft. sailboat that dragged an electrode creating an electromagnetic field to ward off sharks. He was followed by a shark for 5 days, stung by jellyfish, and combated exhaustion to complete his swim in 73 days.
Ben is prepared to do it again – this time swimming across the Pacific Ocean from Tokyo, Japan to San Francisco, USA. Ben has been training for over 3 years to accomplish this goal and is looking forward to getting into the ocean in early 2016.
Advocate for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Ben has a Masters degree in Architecture and lives with his beautiful wife and two children in Austin, Texas. When he’s not in the water, Ben serves as Associate Director of ProGEA’s Sustainability Services Practice, where he provides clients with innovative solutions for integrating sustainable business practices.