A French man is swimming across the Pacific Ocean from Japan to the USA. Ben Lecomte, 51, set off on Tuesday. It will take him six months to swim the 9,000km. He will swim for eight hours a day. There will be many dangers, like sharks, storms, rough seas, and very cold water. He will also have to fight exhaustion, loneliness and injuries. Lecomte said the mental part was most important. He said: "You have to...always think about something positive."
Lecomte trained his body and mind for six years for this challenge. He swam in the sea every day. He is in top physical condition. He needs to be mentally strong. He is doing the swim to raise awareness of climate change, and the effects of plastic rubbish and the Fukushima nuclear disaster on the ocean. Scientists will check his body to see how so much exercise affects the heart. In 1998, he swam across the Atlantic. After that, he said: "Never again."