Benoit Lecomte Biography

Benoît Lecomte (born 1967) is a French-born long distance swimmer (now a naturalized citizen of the U.S.A.) who has received wide credit for being the first man to swim across the Atlantic Ocean without a kick board in 1998, though this has not been recognized by the Guinness World Records. He did this to raise money for cancer research as a tribute to his father. During his 3,716 mi (5,980 km) journey in 73 days, he was accompanied by a 40 ft (12 m) sailboat that had an electromagnetic field for 25 ft (7.6 m) to ward off sharks. He was followed by a great white shark for 5 days. He also encountered sea turtles, dolphins, and jellyfish.