Ben Lecomte is gearing up to begin his big swim across the Pacific Ocean in order to bring awareness to the big problems with water pollution. He will be the first person to successfully swim across the Pacific, 30 years after becoming the first person to swim across the Atlantic Ocean. He will start out this longest swim on Sunday, June 2.
Preparing for a long journey
The distance swimmer has spent the past seven years readying himself for the journey from the coast of Choshi, Japan. He expects that it will take 6 to 8 months to swim the 5,500 distance to San Francisco. He will swim eight hours before joining his crew on a boat to sleep.
The boats accompanying him on his journey have a variety of technologies attached to them, including the ability to repel sharks and other ocean predators. His wetsuit has been designed to protect his body from hypothermia from the cold waters.
Documenting the health of our oceans
A feature-length documentary of his swim will be released in 2019. During The Swim, 27 research institutes including Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and NASA partnering with Lecomte will be relying on the 8-person crew to collect samples of water and marine life.
The whole journey will livestream, and the hope is that in addition to following the swimmer’s journey, those tuning in will learn more about the current state of our oceans. He hopes that the research conducted during his adventure will help us to ultimately better protect oceanic health.
How to follow Ben Lecomte’s historic swim
At EQTmag.com, we’ve been following Ben’s journey to this point through interviews and a partnership with the athlete. He will swim from Japan to San Francisco. The Swim is being filmed by Discovery and Nomadica Films, and you can follow Ben’s journey on the Seeker website and in the following places:
You can also view Ben Lecomte’s journey live.
What do you think of Ben Lecomte’s plan to swim across the Pacific Ocean? Will you be tuning in? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
So excited to see this swim happening!
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Yes! It’s very exciting!
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