Two French swimmers, Matthieu and Chloe Leger Witvoet, said they had to end their attempt to swim across the Atlantic Ocean after 13 days because of damage to their support boat. In an Instagram post, Chloe Leger Witvoet said the captain told them a cable connecting the vessel’s two tillers and rudders snapped “probably due to the sea conditions and the pressure from the sea anchors.”
“To sum up the situation, it’s a bit like driving a car without a steering wheel while trying to keep up with a pedestrian,” she wrote. “You can go straight ahead, but it’s impossible to follow a swimmer in the middle of the waves. Over the past 24 hours, we’ve tried to repair it, considered all options, and even tested swimming with a towline behind the boat.”
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Still, it was decided that given the conditions in the middle of the Atlantic, it was “impossible for the boat to ensure the swimmers’ safety.”
Journey across the Atlantic
The couple initially started their journey by diving into the Atlantic’s waters from the shores of Cape Verde, taking turns in the water for six hours each day. Before the boat issues, they faced other challenges, including encounters with jellyfish and swordfish, Reuters reported .
The swimmers’ goal had been to swim more than 2,000 miles to Guadeloupe, a French Caribbean island, to raise awareness about marine conservation.
Students across France followed the Witvoets through live video feeds and tracked their progress in real time.
This project will still continue even if the swim won’t.
“The boat stops, but the adventure continues,” Leger Witvoet said. “Today, the Ocean at School Mission is stronger than ever in our hearts.”
Now, the Witvoets will sail to Guadeloupe to fix the boat, then go back to France.
