A French couple are training in the Mediterranean to prepare for what they hope will be a record-breaking three-month relay swim across the Atlantic Ocean.
Matthieu Witvoet and Chloe Leger Witvoet plan to set off from the island of Cape Verde, off the African coast, on November 1 for a 3,800km swim to the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.
The couple will take turns swimming for six hours each every day and attempt to set records for the longest female ocean crossing and for the longest swimming relay “with drifting”, which means the boat they will sleep on will drift at night, which will account for part of the distance covered.
“This is ultra-swimming and that is what we like to do,” Leger said.
Their previous swims include:
- the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain to Morocco in 2019;
- down the Seine River from Paris to Deauville in 2021; and
- from Marseille to Barcelona in 2023.
Crossing the Atlantic is a challenge of a different level. Water temperatures are expected to hover at about 23°C.
The couple have been preparing for two years, perfecting their technique to avoid injury.
“This summer we did a lot of time swimming. We swam almost three to four hours a day so we got our bodies used to swimming that much per day,” Leger said.
Their catamaran sailboat will be crewed by four people, including a nurse.
The swim aims to raise awareness for ocean protection and they have created an educational kit for which more than 63,000 schoolchildren have signed up.
Children and their teachers will receive weekly lesson plans on ocean-related topics such as biodiversity and pollution while students follow the swimmers' progress.
Leger said: “If we don't complete the physical challenge but succeed in the awareness campaign, we will have succeeded more than if we complete the swim but fail the awareness campaign.”
Reuters
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