On Halloween morning at Barton Springs Pool in Austin, Ben Lecomte could have passed for an extraterrestrial manatee, or maybe even a mermaid convalescing with a respirator. But he wasn't costumed in observance of the holiday -- he breathes through the neon green tube and wears a single enormous fin on his feet about six times a week.

As a warm-up, Ben splashes, crashes, and generally disrupts the water before settling into a strong mechanical crawl aided by a pair of long, black fins that have been repaired, or at least reinforced, with duct tape. His stroke becomes quiet in its rhythm; he'd be difficult to locate if it weren't for the snorkel radiating up through the dark of the pool. At times, he stops at the wall to squirt water or a liquid charged with electrolytes into his mouth, or to change into his special footgear, a fiberglass monofin that spans a distance of about three feet to the front and sides of his own feet, both of which tuck inside this giant yellow flipper.

Benoit Lecomte's plans are far more serious than his outfit suggests. This thirty-year-old native Frenchman left his home near Paris five years ago to move to San Antonio and now lives in Austin, where he is training for the challenge of his lifetime: a trans-Atlantic swim from Cape Cod, Massachusetts to Brest, France.

Swimming to France? The prospects of sharks, hypothermia, and exhaustion don't even seem to faze Ben, who's been training for this for a long time. "I've done different types of sports all my life from a very early age, and I've had the idea of crossing the Atlantic for about eight years now. I like the adventure of it." Adventure aside, he wasn't moved to complete the Cross-Atlantic Swimming Challenge until recently. In college he planned to use the publicity generated from the stunt to promote healthier oceans, but now wants to further a cause that's even closer to his heart. Motivated by the death of his father, who lost his life to cancer at the young age of 49, Ben intends to swim his way to raising thousands of dollars through sponsorships that go towards research of the disease. The idea of swimming an ocean, a common metaphor, is an opportunity for Ben to fuse his love of adventure, the athletic prowess that he shares with his brothers (a marathon ish Channel (which is about 20 miles wide, to put it in perspective) would say the word "swim" does not apply once you involve equipment other than a human body, a swimming suit, and a tub of Vaseline (for warmth). "If you use a kickboard, are you really swimming? If you use a wet suit, are you really swimming? If you use a monofin, are you really swimming?" queries Ben, who predicts that certain aquatic purists won't perceive his exploit as an actual swim.

Until June of 1998 when he plunges into the Cross-Atlantic Challenge, Ben is focusing on training in Austin's Barton Springs, soliciting sponsors, and selecting the research organization that will oversee proceeds from his efforts. Take a plunge into the channels below to learn about the details of Ben's endurance swim, the training involved in preparing for such an endeavor, and the gear he'll use to keep himself afloat for 100 days at sea. 



The 100-Day Swim | Mind and Body | Gearing Up | Contact Ben