Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Ben Lecomte prepping Discoverer at Pt. Loma for Tokyo-San Francisco voyage

The longest swim

Lecomte took his snorkel radio for a dip in San Diego harbor. - Image by Léa Hagemeier.
Lecomte took his snorkel radio for a dip in San Diego harbor.

Eight hours per day, 180 days, 5500 miles: that’s the length of the longest swim, to be attempted by Ben Lecomte across the Pacific Ocean from Tokyo to San Francisco. Alongside him will be his 67’ sailboat, the Discoverer, currently anchored at Point Loma marina, and a volunteer crew prepared for the voyage and to conduct citizen science.

Discoverer crew. The team has assembled in San Diego to test equipment and their tolerance for each other.

If he completes the swim, Lecomte will be the first person to swim across the Pacific, adding to his 1998 swim across the Atlantic. Ben arrived in San Diego in late March to meet the boat, nicknamed Disco, which he bought sight unseen from a seller in the United Kingdom. Scotty the skipper and a skeleton crew sailed her across the Atlantic and through the Panama Canal.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Scotty the skipper. He and a skeleton crew sailed her across the Atlantic and through the Panama Canal.

She’ll stay moored at Point Loma for about six months while the boat is refitted with solar, hydro, and wind power-generating systems, satellite communications, and scientific instruments. The team has assembled in San Diego to test the equipment (and their tolerance for each other in close quarters).

If he completes the swim, Lecomte will be the first person to swim across the Pacific.

The first test: swimming alongside Disco to make sure her wake would not be too rough, which Ben did a few days after arrival. He took his snorkel radio for a dip in San Diego Harbor, testing the device that will be his lifeline. Lecomte will also wear a miniature electrocardiogram recorder, in a water-resistant fabric patch taped to his chest, which will log heart data while he swims.

“We’re asking the question, ‘can too much exercise damage the heart?’”

“We’re asking the question, ‘can too much exercise damage the heart?’” said Anastasia Benjafield, a doctor from the University of London who will be aboard to assist with collecting Ben’s heart data.

Being immersed in water eight hours a day is the closest earthly simulation of the low gravity astronauts experience, so the Universities Space Research Association is looking at Ben’s swim for information on bone density loss and vision loss.

Lecomte and the crew will also take water samples to check cesium levels associated with the 2012 Fukushima Daichi nuclear plant meltdown. More nerve-racking will be the 1,000-mile slog through the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, where the boat will drag a neuston net daily to collect samples of the notorious microplastic detritus. And how about the great white shark migration area? As a precaution, Ben will wear a bracelet that produces an electrical field around the wearer that is supposed to interfere with a shark’s tracking ability.

At a Café de Science event arranged by the Alliance Française de San Diego, Lecomte and the crew showed a Kickstarter promo video they made in San Diego Harbor.

“We are still raising money for food and airtime fees,” the French-born adventurer shared with the audience.

“I have to eat 8,000 calories a day, and possibly leave some for the crew.”

Lecomte hopes to begin the longest swim in spring 2018, when meteorologists advise will be the best “weather window,” avoiding typhoon season in the western Pacific and hurricane season in the eastern.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Will L.A. Times crowd out San Diego U-T at Riverside printing plant?

Will Toni Atkins stand back from anti-SDG&E initiative?
Next Article

Will L.A. Times crowd out San Diego U-T at Riverside printing plant?

Will Toni Atkins stand back from anti-SDG&E initiative?
Lecomte took his snorkel radio for a dip in San Diego harbor. - Image by Léa Hagemeier.
Lecomte took his snorkel radio for a dip in San Diego harbor.

Eight hours per day, 180 days, 5500 miles: that’s the length of the longest swim, to be attempted by Ben Lecomte across the Pacific Ocean from Tokyo to San Francisco. Alongside him will be his 67’ sailboat, the Discoverer, currently anchored at Point Loma marina, and a volunteer crew prepared for the voyage and to conduct citizen science.

Discoverer crew. The team has assembled in San Diego to test equipment and their tolerance for each other.

If he completes the swim, Lecomte will be the first person to swim across the Pacific, adding to his 1998 swim across the Atlantic. Ben arrived in San Diego in late March to meet the boat, nicknamed Disco, which he bought sight unseen from a seller in the United Kingdom. Scotty the skipper and a skeleton crew sailed her across the Atlantic and through the Panama Canal.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Scotty the skipper. He and a skeleton crew sailed her across the Atlantic and through the Panama Canal.

She’ll stay moored at Point Loma for about six months while the boat is refitted with solar, hydro, and wind power-generating systems, satellite communications, and scientific instruments. The team has assembled in San Diego to test the equipment (and their tolerance for each other in close quarters).

If he completes the swim, Lecomte will be the first person to swim across the Pacific.

The first test: swimming alongside Disco to make sure her wake would not be too rough, which Ben did a few days after arrival. He took his snorkel radio for a dip in San Diego Harbor, testing the device that will be his lifeline. Lecomte will also wear a miniature electrocardiogram recorder, in a water-resistant fabric patch taped to his chest, which will log heart data while he swims.

“We’re asking the question, ‘can too much exercise damage the heart?’”

“We’re asking the question, ‘can too much exercise damage the heart?’” said Anastasia Benjafield, a doctor from the University of London who will be aboard to assist with collecting Ben’s heart data.

Being immersed in water eight hours a day is the closest earthly simulation of the low gravity astronauts experience, so the Universities Space Research Association is looking at Ben’s swim for information on bone density loss and vision loss.

Lecomte and the crew will also take water samples to check cesium levels associated with the 2012 Fukushima Daichi nuclear plant meltdown. More nerve-racking will be the 1,000-mile slog through the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, where the boat will drag a neuston net daily to collect samples of the notorious microplastic detritus. And how about the great white shark migration area? As a precaution, Ben will wear a bracelet that produces an electrical field around the wearer that is supposed to interfere with a shark’s tracking ability.

At a Café de Science event arranged by the Alliance Française de San Diego, Lecomte and the crew showed a Kickstarter promo video they made in San Diego Harbor.

“We are still raising money for food and airtime fees,” the French-born adventurer shared with the audience.

“I have to eat 8,000 calories a day, and possibly leave some for the crew.”

Lecomte hopes to begin the longest swim in spring 2018, when meteorologists advise will be the best “weather window,” avoiding typhoon season in the western Pacific and hurricane season in the eastern.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

A poem for March by Joseph O’Brien

“March’s Lovely Asymptotes”
Next Article

Hip-hop artist Don Elway makes movies for his music

Not Ordinary EP tells a story of life on the streets
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.