NPR

To Raise Awareness For Climate Change, 50-Year-Old Makes Bid To Swim Across Pacific

Ben Lecomte is the first person to try to swim across the Pacific Ocean. NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks to him from Choshi, Japan, before he departs to attempt the 5,500-mile journey.
Ben Lecomte hopes to become the first person to swim across the Pacific Ocean. He leaves on Tuesday from the coast of Japan for a six-month journey.

On Tuesday, 50-year-old swimmer Ben Lecomte will push off from a beach in Choshi, Japan, wearing a shark repellent bracelet and an armband to track radiation in the ocean. He hopes to reach San Francisco in six months as the first person to swim across the Pacific Ocean.

A successful 5,500-mile journey will be a feat of athleticism and

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