A man has broken the world record for the longest non-stop, unassisted ocean swim—traversing a distance of over 80 miles.
Belgian ultra-athlete and adventurer Matthieu Bonne, 29, swum for 60 hours, 55 minutes and 43 seconds in the Gulf of Corinth, Greece, to break the record.
The Gulf of Corinth is a stretch of water that extends deep into mainland Greece, separating the southern Peloponnese region from the more northerly parts of the country. It is a semi-enclosed inlet of the Ionian Sea, which itself forms part of the wider Mediterranean Sea.
By Saturday evening, Bonne had covered a distance of 81.4 miles – beating the previous record, held by former Maltese Olympic swimmer Neil Agius.
In June 2021, Agius swam 78.1 miles in 52 hours and 10 minutes between Italy and Malta—a small island nation in the central Mediterranean—according to the Marathon Swimmers Federation (MSF). The organization sets standards and guidelines for endurance swims such as these.
For this record, the athlete cannot gain a net benefit from surface currents and the swim must be fully continuous—meaning they never exit the water. The swimmer must also avoid physical contact with escort vessels, support personnel, or other objects, be they fixed or floating.
The swim must be conducted without any artificial assistance that will aid performance. Only the designated standard equipment can be used.
Any use of non-standard, performance-enhancing equipment, supportive contact with the swimmer, or “other violation of the spirit of unassisted marathon swimming” is considered an assisted swim.
To make the swim official, Bonne was accompanied by three observers to ensure that the rules outlined by the MSF were followed.
Due to the lack of sleep, Bonne also suffered from hallucinations. But after more than 80 miles of essentially non-stop swimming, Bonne crawled out of the Gulf late on Saturday evening to complete his record-breaking achievement.
“I can’t believe I did. The last three days have been crazy, and now I have a new world record. I’m super happy,” he said.
According to newsweek.com. Source of photo: internet
