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Father Abandons Bid to Become First Person to Swim the Atlantic After Being Stalked by a 10ft Shark
Telegraph (U.K.) ^ | 16 DECEMBER 2016

Posted on 12/16/2016 12:51:51 PM PST by nickcarraway

A British father has abandoned his attempt to become the first person to swim the Atlantic Ocean.

Ben Hooper, 38, said it would have been "foolhardy" to try and carry on with his near 2,000 mile challenge after his support vessel suffered damage during a storm.

Mr Hooper, from Cheltenham, Gloucs, left Dakar in Senegal, on the west coast of Africa on November 13 to swim to Brazil's Natal - a distance of 1,883 miles.

In that time he swam 87 miles after losing 15 days' swimming to a combination of poor weather, medical problems after being stung by a Portuguese man o' war and technical issues with the support vessel.

During the Swim The Big Blue expedition, the former policeman and soldier had to battle 20ft waves, was followed by a 10ft shark and bitten by fish.

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Outdoors; Pets/Animals; Sports
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 12/16/2016 12:51:51 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

No surprise, God created us from the dust of the earth, we are not meant to be sea dwellers.


2 posted on 12/16/2016 12:55:53 PM PST by reviled downesdad (Some of the blind will never believe the Truth.)
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To: nickcarraway

Should read “shark gives up plans for tasty homo sapien dinner after father abandons plans to swim Atlantic”.


3 posted on 12/16/2016 12:57:05 PM PST by The_Media_never_lie ( Agenda driven news is fake news.)
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To: nickcarraway

Some things are simply not meant to be...

Swimming 1,887 miles is one of them...


4 posted on 12/16/2016 1:03:45 PM PST by Popman
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To: nickcarraway

Is it really swimming the Atlantic when you get on a support vessel after getting stung, when the seas are rough, and presumably to sleep????


5 posted on 12/16/2016 1:07:49 PM PST by laxcoach (Government is greedy. Taxpayers who want their own money are not greedy.)
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To: nickcarraway

All the while the shark is thinking, “..Hey a seal dinner! What’s a seal doing here ? Weird looking and acting seal! But I like seal!...”.


6 posted on 12/16/2016 1:08:55 PM PST by Reily
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To: nickcarraway

Great timing Sherlock!


7 posted on 12/16/2016 1:12:34 PM PST by dasboot (GOV POLICY: From each according to our needs; to each according to our needs.)
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To: nickcarraway
Father Abandons Bid to Become First Person to Swim the Atlantic After Being Stalked by a 10ft Shark

He must have been very brave indeed to even undertake such a feat after having first been stalked by a shark.

8 posted on 12/16/2016 1:14:33 PM PST by Quality_Not_Quantity
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To: nickcarraway

Big lawyers must prowl the waters over there.


9 posted on 12/16/2016 1:14:34 PM PST by VanDeKoik
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To: nickcarraway

I have spent a lot of time on and in the water - commercial and sport fishing, surfing, sailing, boating, swimming, etc. and have come to the conclusion that the ocean does not really like humans all that much.


10 posted on 12/16/2016 1:15:33 PM PST by dainbramaged (Get out of my country now)
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To: nickcarraway

There are some things that are just plain stupid. Then there are the double dog dare you stupid.

Happy the man survived his stupidity.


11 posted on 12/16/2016 1:22:08 PM PST by CIB-173RDABN
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To: nickcarraway

12 posted on 12/16/2016 1:27:05 PM PST by lacrew
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To: nickcarraway

Monty Python did this skit back in the late 60’s.

No Wait, that was the guy who was going to jump the English Channel.


13 posted on 12/16/2016 1:29:10 PM PST by Conan the Librarian (The Best in Life is to crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and the Dewey Decimal System)
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To: nickcarraway
The Superman
14 posted on 12/16/2016 1:32:25 PM PST by Berlin_Freeper
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To: Quality_Not_Quantity

The police can never help you when you get stalked...


15 posted on 12/16/2016 1:34:50 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway
The police can never help you when you get stalked...

'Why do you carry a gun?'

'Because policemen are too heavy.'

16 posted on 12/16/2016 1:43:43 PM PST by Quality_Not_Quantity
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To: Quality_Not_Quantity

Crazy is not brave. There is no shortage of Darwin candidates. How many days would it take to swim 1900 miles in calm water? It is lusicrous to do so in the open ocean. That is crazy or stupid, not brave. Foolhardy at best.


17 posted on 12/16/2016 2:51:07 PM PST by Freedom_Is_Not_Free (The GOP will see the light, because Trump will make them feel the heat.)
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To: Freedom_Is_Not_Free

He’s already reproduced.
Did he really expect to swim 1800+ miles and not encounter a shark??


18 posted on 12/16/2016 3:37:57 PM PST by scrabblehack
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To: The_Media_never_lie

“Should read “shark gives up plans for tasty homo sapien dinner after father abandons plans to swim Atlantic”.”

“Racist father starves shark!”


19 posted on 12/16/2016 3:50:30 PM PST by CodeToad (If it weren't for physics and law enforcement, I'd be unstoppable!)
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To: Freedom_Is_Not_Free

You missed my point, that being the poor wording of the headline.


20 posted on 12/19/2016 5:22:00 AM PST by Quality_Not_Quantity
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