The Longest Swim - Ben Lecomte's Inspiring Story!

It always seems impossible till it’s done.

Cancer is one of the most painful/deadliest diseases one can come across, and it takes a lot of courage to fight it day in and out without losing hope. The following is the true story of a man who lost his father due to cancer and was extremely devastated after the loss of his mentor and friend.

In his quest to do something meaningful in memory of his father and for so many people out there going through the same trauma and struggle that his family had to go through, this gutsy individual decided to swim the Atlantic Ocean to raise funds and awareness for cancer research. On September 25th 1998, Ben Lecomte became the first man to swim across the Atlantic Ocean. He dedicated this feat to his father, who had taught him how to swim.

Ben faced lot of difficulties in conquering his mission. He could have saved himself the pain of swimming every day for 8 hours for 73 days and just resorted to a normal life. But he didn’t.

“My battle was very different from the one faced by cancer patients; it was my decision and I could give up at any time. But during my swim I understood their suffering and the feeling of not knowing the outcome better.

“I found it very difficult to do the same thing over and over: looking at the same blue background, hearing the same noise, tasting the same strong salty water.”

“Whenever he thought about giving up, Ben would concentrate on why he began the adventure in the first place, and he would remember those happy times spent with his family in France.

How strange, because 90% of the people in this world tend to become demotivated when faced with hard situations in their lives. Giving up is the easiest option that we are so accustomed to. Otherwise, how do you explain the alarming rates of suicide, drug addictions, smoking, and so on? But not Ben Lecomte.

And that is why in order to motivate people who are struggling with any challenge in their life (be it a disease, unemployment, addiction or anything), Ben has also decided to swim the Pacific Ocean to provide inspiration and courage to people to not give up. He wants to convey the message that we all share a common bond by which we all can conquer any challenge or problem in our lives.

No one has ever dared to swim the Pacific Ocean until now. Ben has been training hard daily to get ready for this extremely tough challenge. His regimen includes three to five hours, six-days-a-week swimming and cardiovascular cross-training (including cycling and calisthenics).

The one thing that he learnt from his Atlantic Ocean swim was: “When you finish something big like that, you can feel the pain and strain. But when you look at it with a more objective view, it makes you want to do something bigger.”

Isn’t the above true for us too? If we achieve our goals easily, we don’t cherish them as much as those goals which have come after hours of pain and struggle, and those hard-earned goals serve as the golden pillars in our lives. They motivate us to do even more and bigger than before.

Ben Lecomte is ready for this tough journey to inspire people in the world who quit in times of hardships and lose hope. He will not abandon his goal even if it means that he has to face 12 feet high waves, white sharks, salty water and not to mention the physical/mental pain that will come along with doing the same thing over and over again for months.

One thing which we can easily learn from his example: Pain is temporary, Quitting lasts forever!

So never ever quit because if you do, so will the enduring spirit of Ben Lecomte, who will be out there swimming for all of us to give us the most beautiful and precious thing in life: hope.

So let’s join hands together to share this inspiring story of Ben Lecomte with more and more people out there to spread his wonderful message and journey; to be with him during his time of struggle, to make him feel motivated during this extremely tough journey which no man has ever done before.

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