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Ben Hooper aged 35 and a father of one is all set to swim across the Atlantic Ocean over the stretch of 2000 miles. The swim will take somewhere over 100 to 120 days and he will swim in two sessions of six hours each. Hooper is a former Policeman, who said that he was unhappy with his job and needed a change. , the Daily Mail reports.
Last year he made the decision to swim across the Atlantic Ocean which has never been achieved before. In an interview with BBC he said that he wanted to push himself and see how far he could go,
He will swim from Africa to Brazil, Senegal to Natal to be exact. He said he took to swimming after he had a near-drowning experience at the age of 5 when he was schooling in Belgium. He will burn up to 12,000 calories per day, will be swimming in temperatures of around 20- 30 degrees battling currents of 1- 7 knots. Hooper will also wear a special suit to protect him from the harsh sun and also potentially dangerous creatures such as jellyfish and sharks. He will use a raft during the night so rest for a while and also stay away from creatures like sharks and jellyfish which inhabit the Ocean.
“The swim is an idea I have been sitting on for a long time,”
“I have long been fascinated with the ocean and its wildlife and have always been sporty and fit and thought "now is the time". 'I was feeling really uninspired last year and was finding it difficult to do anything. I needed a change and to do something different - so I thought "why not now,” Hooper said in an interview.
The whole swim will be broadcast online and will be up for people to constantly follow his expedition. Hooper will be the first person to make his extraordinary swim public. There have been previous failed attempts such as Jeniffer Figge in 2009. Benoit Lecomte is credited as the first man to swim across the Atlantic Ocean in 1998. His 3,716-mile journey took 73 days only, but he was accompanied by a huge sailboat fitted with electromagnetic field to ward off sharks.
'I left my job and started assembling my team around me. I have always been fit and done a few triathlons and other events - but obviously a challenge of this scale needs professional assistance.
'Training has been really tough - but it's my full-time job.
'I hope to be back on dry land by New Year's Eve - I will be helped along by the sea and should be going at around 4.5 knots.'
He also said it was little bit of ego that was driving him towards this journey of his. Through his swim he will be raising money for three different charities the SOS Children, which provides orphans and vulnerable children with a stable and positive family life, Maggie’s Cancer Care Centre in Cheltenham, and Addaction - a leading drug and alcohol charity.
