Man Tries To Swim Atlantic After Being Filled With “Olympic Spirit”


A man filled with “Olympic spirit” has decided to try to swim the Atlantic Ocean.

The 34-year-old London man said he was so inspired by swimming events in the 2012 London Olympics that he decided to try to swim the Atlantic, all the way to New York, the entertainment blog Starometer reported. The man said he wanted to bring some of Britain’s enthusiasm for the Olympics overseas.

Unfortunately, the man was not very good at math. The first man to swim the Atlantic Ocean, Benoit Lecomte, took 73 days to complete to trip, which would put the London man on America’s shores long after the Olympic Games have completed. Lecomte, who completed his swim in 1998, also had the help of wetsuits, a support boat to follow his trip and even an electromagnetic field to ward off sharks.

The London man, who jumped into the Atlantic in Biarritz, France, tried to make the swim unaided. His friends said he was a good swimmer, but they still thought he was joking before he jumped into the water.

His friends thought he was joking and since they know that the man is a good swimmer, they allowed him to jump in the water.

“He was a bit naive,” said Laurent Saintespes, senior officer at Biarritz airbase to AFP. “But at a time when the Olympics are taking place in London you have to see the funny side of things.”

Friends and lifeguards watched as the man swam out beyond buoys 300 yards from shore that marked the legal limits for swimming, The Daily Mail reported. Lifeguards watched as he continued on, attempting to make what would have been a 3,594-mile journey.

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