French adventurer Rémi Camus has completed an extreme 180-kilometre open water swim lasting 13 days to raise awareness about the plight of the oceans.
Explorer and extreme sports personality Rémi Camus already has some pretty amazing feats under his belt. From running across Australia to river boarding the Mekong River, as well as swimming the length of the French coast from Dunkirk to Monaco, he is not one to shy away from a challenge.
His latest achievement, though, has a more personal feel. The explorer has just landed in Monaco after swimming eight hours a day for 13 days in a journey that took him from Calvi in Corsica to Monaco, all in the name of ocean protection awareness.
His plan had been to do the crossing completely unassisted, but this proved impractical, so he was followed by a sailboat that kept track of his progress. Camus did, however, pull a small craft along behind him during the swim, which provided his shelter and a place to store gear.
Three years in the making
The 180-kilometre journey, which took three years to train for, was filled with ups and downs.
“The most difficult thing was not having water easily to drink,” Camus told France Bleu upon arriving in Monaco. “I had to use a desalinator and pump… And I could see the crew drinking quietly, not very far away, on the sailboat! It’s when we see that life is easy with tap water.”
But there were high points as well, with the adventurer enjoying moments with wildlife not often recorded.
“I had beautiful encounters: whales, dolphins, turtles, rays, jellyfish…” he said, adding that the force of the Mediterranean did sometimes take him by surprise. “It’s a raging sea, with swells, currents and very strong winds. I faced waves of several meters!”
View this post on Instagram
But what he said he found most alarming was the amount of plastic floating around.
“I saw bits of plastic everywhere as I approached the coast. On camera, it barely shows anything at all, but they’re everywhere, these little bits [of plastic]. I wanted to show that. I left [on this mission] to educate the public. If we want to continue on this planet, we have to do something so that our children can benefit from it.”
Sign up for the Monaco Life newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Photo source: Calvi Monaco 2023 / The Next Exploration Facebook