Limbless man to 'swim around the world'

Limbless French endurance athlete Philippe Croizon says he wants to connect the world by swimming between five continents. Croizon, who has previously crossed the English Channel, will spend the northern hemisphere summer swimming between the continents with his friend Arnaud Chassery - starting with a swim between Indonesia (Asia) and Papua New Guinea (Oceania) in May.



The pair will follow up by crossing the Red Sea between Jordan (Asia) and Egypt (Africa) and the Strait of Gibraltar between Africa and Europe, before finishing by crossing the Bering Strait between America and Asia in August. "We are going to symbolically link the five continents, two little people like us, two little men, we're going to be able to build a bridge between the continents," Croizon said.

"That means that we're going to bring them together. Which means no one is very far from each other. So even if we have different political opinions, or skin colors, or even with our disabilities, we all live on the same planet. And that's the clear message we want to send."


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Croizon - who lost his limbs after he was electrocuted while changing a TV antenna on his roof in 1994 - says the total distance covered by the swims will be roughly 53 miles (85km) and that the pair expect to be in the water for about 45 hours. The 44-year-old swims using prosthetic limbs and fins attached to the stumps of his legs.