Jennifer Figge of Aspen, Colorado, became the first woman to swim across the Atlantic Ocean last week. Figge, 56, left Africa’s Cape Verde Islands on January 12 and swam 2,100 miles to Trinidad’s Chacachacare Island, finishing on February 5. She was in the water up to eight hours a day, while she was followed by a support crew in a sailboat. Read more here.
UPDATE:
The AP has a little egg on its face for this story (as do I for piggy-backing it), as apparently this wasn’t quite the grand record that was initially reported. As news of the feat circulated around the web, inquiring minds started doing the math and quickly pointed out that swimming 2,100 miles in 25 days isn’t possible, even if you’re Michael Phelps on Alex Rodriguez’s steroids.
The AP has published a correction that states, “Figge swam only a fraction of the 2,100-mile journey. The rest of the time, she rested on her crew’s westward-sailing catamaran. Her spokesman, David Higdon, told The AP on Tuesday that her total swimming distance has not been calculated yet, but that due to ocean hazards including inclement weather, he estimates she swam about 250 miles.”
