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Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
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Woman lands in Trinidad after swimming Atlantic
Source: Agencies |
February 9, 2009, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
JENNIFER Figge pressed her toes into the Caribbean sand, exhilarated and exhausted as she touched land last Thursday for the first time in almost a month.
Reaching a beach in Trinidad, she became the first woman on record to swim across the Atlantic Ocean, a dream she'd had since the early 1960s, when a stormy trans-Atlantic flight got her thinking she could don a life vest and swim the rest of the way if needed.
The 56-year-old American left the Cape Verde Islands off Africa's western coast on January 12, battling waves of up to 9 meters and strong winds. David Higdon, a friend of Figge who kept in touch with her via satellite phone, said she had originally planned to swim to the Bahamas, but inclement weather forced her to veer 1,600 kilometers off course to Trinidad, where she arrived last Thursday.
Figge plans to continue her odyssey, swimming from Trinidad to the British Virgin Islands, where she expects to arrive late February. The crew won't compute the total distance Figge swam until after she completes the journey, Higdon said.
Then it's home to Aspen, Colorado, where she trained for months in an outdoor pool amid snowy blizzards to reunite with her Alaskan Malamute.
She saw a pod of pilot whales, several turtles, dozens of dolphins, plenty of Portuguese man-of-war but no sharks. "I was never scared," Figge said. "Looking back, I wouldn't have it any other way. I can always swim in a pool."
Her journey comes a decade after French swimmer Benoit Lecomte made the first known solo trans-Atlantic swim, covering nearly 6,400 kilometers from Massachusetts to France in 73 days. No woman on record has made the crossing.
Figge woke most days around 7am, eating pasta and potatoes while she and the crew assessed the weather. Her longest stint in the water was about eight hours, and her shortest was 21 minutes.
Reaching a beach in Trinidad, she became the first woman on record to swim across the Atlantic Ocean, a dream she'd had since the early 1960s, when a stormy trans-Atlantic flight got her thinking she could don a life vest and swim the rest of the way if needed.
The 56-year-old American left the Cape Verde Islands off Africa's western coast on January 12, battling waves of up to 9 meters and strong winds. David Higdon, a friend of Figge who kept in touch with her via satellite phone, said she had originally planned to swim to the Bahamas, but inclement weather forced her to veer 1,600 kilometers off course to Trinidad, where she arrived last Thursday.
Figge plans to continue her odyssey, swimming from Trinidad to the British Virgin Islands, where she expects to arrive late February. The crew won't compute the total distance Figge swam until after she completes the journey, Higdon said.
Then it's home to Aspen, Colorado, where she trained for months in an outdoor pool amid snowy blizzards to reunite with her Alaskan Malamute.
She saw a pod of pilot whales, several turtles, dozens of dolphins, plenty of Portuguese man-of-war but no sharks. "I was never scared," Figge said. "Looking back, I wouldn't have it any other way. I can always swim in a pool."
Her journey comes a decade after French swimmer Benoit Lecomte made the first known solo trans-Atlantic swim, covering nearly 6,400 kilometers from Massachusetts to France in 73 days. No woman on record has made the crossing.
Figge woke most days around 7am, eating pasta and potatoes while she and the crew assessed the weather. Her longest stint in the water was about eight hours, and her shortest was 21 minutes.
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