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Stève Stievenart, nicknamed "the Seal" ("le Phoque"), is a swimmer who specializes in extreme open-water swimming. His nickname comes from his build and his particular diet. To protect himself from the severe cold of the waters he faces, this resident of Wimereux (North of France) eats almost exclusively fatty fish, like seals [do]. https://podcasts.afp.com/afp-audio-sur-le-fil/202408112300-steve-le-phoque-lhomme-qui-dompte-les-mers-rediff

Triple Corona del Fin del Mundo (Triple Crown of the End of the World):

  1. Cruce a Nado del Canal Beagle, 1.7 km between Chile and Uruguay in 53 minutes 24 seconds in 8°C water
  2. Cruce a Nado del Estrecho de Magallanes, a 5 km crossing within Chilean waters in 1 hour 50 minutes 2 seconds on April 11th
  3. Cruce a Nado del Río de la Plata, a 42 km crossing from Uruguay to Argentina in 17 hours 59 minutes 33 seconds on April 19th
    https://dailynewsofopenwaterswimming.com/steve-stievenart-is-first-to-achieve-triple-corona-del-fin-del-mundo/

Short vertical video in French here: https://www.franceinfo.fr/sports/sport-et-loisirs/steve-stievenart-devient-le-premier-nageur-a-boucler-la-triple-couronne-du-bout-du-monde_7950017.html

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[–] Thcdenton@lemmy.world 8 points 10 hours ago

PEAK MALE PERFORMANCE

[–] CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de 66 points 19 hours ago

You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like.

[–] paranoid@lemmy.world 43 points 19 hours ago (3 children)

The Frenchman covered his body with Vaseline to reduce the friction on his body and Sudocrem to combat the effects of the saltwater on the skin.

From a Newsweek article, and because I was curious. I'm still not sure why that bit of skin is exposed, though...

[–] Mesophar@pawb.social 16 points 18 hours ago

If you mean the upper part of the torso around the neck, I'm guessing it probably wore away from the motion of swimming

[–] tacosanonymous@mander.xyz 4 points 19 hours ago

I imagine you have to have some pores left unclogged?

[–] oce@jlai.lu 1 points 18 hours ago

Maybe just unfinished?

[–] almost1337@lemmy.zip 15 points 17 hours ago

What le Phoque?

[–] matelt@feddit.uk 2 points 11 hours ago

Bonne chance à l'ami Stève!

[–] Sxan@piefed.zip 20 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)

eats almost exclusively fatty fish, like seals.

... but... seals aren't fish!

Ooooh, "... like seals [do]"

[–] fedikitty@piefed.social 20 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

I almost thought they meant he eats seals.

[–] Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 5 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Yea I had to read it 3 times - it's ambiguously worded.

"like seals do" would've been better.

[–] oce@jlai.lu 6 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

It's a translation from French so it's not perfectly natural.

[–] schnokobaer@feddit.org 3 points 13 hours ago
  1. Cruce a Nado del Canal Beagle, 1.7 km between Chile and Uruguay

I would think the author confused 1. and 3. here and it should be Chile and Argentina

[–] IWW4@lemmy.zip 9 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago) (1 children)

54 minutes in 8c water…wow.

That has to be miserable and I am certain he did that many times before the actually swim.

[–] oce@jlai.lu 11 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

He did lower in 2024 alone according to https://dailynewsofopenwaterswimming.com/steve-stievenart-from-imshof-induction-to-immersion-and-beyond/:

  • February: completed an Ice Kilometer in 1°C water on the Antarctica Peninsula at the IISA Antarctica Ice Swimming Adventure
    [...]
  • December: completed an Ice Zero Mile in Ship Creek, Anchorage, Alaska in 0.8°C water in 36:31
[–] IWW4@lemmy.zip 6 points 17 hours ago

1c!!!!!!!!

Shudder

[–] BestBouclettes@jlai.lu 4 points 19 hours ago

Dude also crosses the Channel on a regular basis. Definitely one of the best athletes in human history.