The West Flemish ultra-athlete Matthieu Bonne has broken the world open water swimming record. The 29-year-old from Bredene swam for continuously for 60 hours and 55 minutes over a distance of 131km in the Bay of Corinth in Greece.
After having swam 131km, Matthieu Bonne still had his toughest test ahead of him: he had to set foot on land and be able to walk a few steps unassisted.
His team told VRT News that “It was a tough finish. His whole body, especially his lips, hurt a lot from the salty sea water. There was also a strong wind at the end of the swim.”
Matthieu Bonne started his world record attempt last Thursday, a day later than planned. Strong gusts of wind and high waves in the Bay of Corinth in Greece had forced him to put back the start of his record attempt.
The previous record was held by Neil Agius, an Olympic swimmer from Malta, who covered 125.7km in open water. The record would only stand if Matthieu Borne was able to get himself back onto dry land unaided. In order to do so he had to swim 3km more than he had originally planned.
The record-breaking swim is Matthieu Borne’s second world record this year. Early this year he cycled 3,619km in 7 days in the US state of Arizona.