Having once vowed never to attempt such madness again, Ben Lecomte is set to take on giant waves, sharks and a pile of floating garbage the size of Texas in a perilous quest to swim across the Pacific Ocean.
Faced with an epic 9,000-km adventure, his bid to become the first swimmer to accomplish the daunting feat begins in Japan and is expected to take more than six months, finishing in San Francisco.
Part adventure, part scientific research, Mr. Lecomte and his eight-person support team will conduct a host of marine experiments as they seek to raise awareness of ocean pollution and plastic contamination.
Two days after turning 51, Mr. Lecomte will enter the waters off Japan’s east coast, after which the swimmer will be at the mercy of the elements.
The danger of sharks and paralysing jellyfish also lurks — but the Texas-based architect tweaks the nose of fear.
“I like to push my personal limit and try to find what that is,” Mr. Lecomte said.
To swim for 8 hours a day
Mr. Lecomte plans to swim for eight hours a day, burning more than 8,000 calories.
The rest of the time he will rest, sleep and eat on the 20-metre support boat Discoverer that will drop him back in the water at the same spot he exits every day. “Pollution of the ocean has a big impact,” said Mr. Lecomte, who will be gathering oceanographic and medical data for 27 scientific organisations, including NASA.
His team will collect water samples to learn more about the build-up of micro-plastics littering the area.
