This November ex-police officer, Ben Hooper, will start his world record swim to cross the Atlantic Ocean. His goal is to swim from Senegal to Brazil, which is approximately 2,000 miles (3,220 kilometers). Hooper will also be supplied with a wetsuit specially designed to make him less visible to sharks.
 
Ben Hooper and His Childhood Dream
During the first days of his life, Hooper was sick and clinically dying, but he made it through. At the age of 5, Hooper nearly drowned in a swimming pool, but this event did not traumatize him. Instead, Hooper vowed to one day swim an ocean. In his adult life Hooper served in the army and police force, and since retirement he has focused on his childhood dream.  In an interview with the Guardian, Hooper said, “I realised I needed to turn my life around.” Pursuing his childhood dream is what he needed to veer away from post-retirement depression.
 
Since making the decision to pursue his childhood dream, Hooper began training in a swimming pool in Cheltenham where he has become a familiar face to staff and other pool users. He has also trained in the open waters of Florida and the Mediterranean. In total, Hooper has swam about 7,450 miles (12,000 kilometers) while training in the pool and the ocean. Prior to training, Hooper checked with Guinness World Records and found out that no human has ever swam the entirety of an ocean.
 
Precautions and Preparations 
During his big swim Hooper will encounter many marine creatures, sharks included. Although he will possibly swim near great white sharks, Hooper admits that he is more worried about the smaller oceanic whitetip shark. As a precautionary measure he will wear a SAMS (shark attack mitigation systems) wetsuit designed by swimwear specialist Arena. This wetsuit was specially designed with a camouflage print that is difficult for sharks to spot.
 
Apart from marine life, other challenges Hooper will have to face are weather, caloric intake and mental endurance. Fortunately Hooper will have a support boat where he will eat and sleep. At night the boat will be kept in position to ensure that it does not drift away and affect Hooper’s mileage. However, any boat movement will be recorded and made up near the end of the expedition.
 
Hooper has also worked with Hartpury College in Gloucestershire to find the music that will help boost his swimming performance. They found that music by Eminem enhanced his performance by up to 10%. During his big swim Hooper will have a waterproof mp3 player that will feature tunes by Eminem, the Prodigy, and Faithless.
 
Best wishes go out to Hooper as he sets out on his 2,000 mile swim across the Atlantic Ocean. Even Sir Ranulph Fiennes acknowledges Hooper’s undertaking as a remarkable attempt. Fiennes also said that “the expedition has the potential of becoming the modern-day equivalent of Sir Edmund Hillary’s conquest of Everest”.
 
To stay updated on Hooper’s swim follow him on: www.followmychallenge.com/live/swimthebigblue or donate to his charities by clicking the following link: www.swimthebigblue.com/charities