Meet Benoît Lecomte, the 51-year-old who aims to swim 5,500-mile across the Pacific Ocean to San Francisco

Here's why Benoît Lecomte is making headlines:

WHO’S LECOMTE?
Lecomte is a French swimmer.

WHAT ABOUT HIM NOW?

He has set off for a 9,000-km journey from Japan, aiming to become the first person to swim across the Pacific.

THE PACIFIC OCEAN?
Yes. Lecomte, 51, will swim for eight hours a day as he heads towards the US west coast. Lecomte plans to reach San Francisco in six months.

IS IT SAFE?
The danger of sharks and paralysing jellyfish lurks, but the Texas-based architect tweaks the nose of fear. ‘I like to push my personal limit and try to find what that is,’ he said.

WHO'S GOING ALONG WITH HIM?
He will be accompanied throughout the journey by a support boat, where he will rest, eat and sleep before restarting his swim every morning.

THAT’S QUITE A FEAT!
Yes. And if he manages to pull it off, he'll be setting the world record.

A RECORD IT IS.
But this is not his first achievement. He swam across the Atlantic Ocean a few years ago.

WAIT! HE SWAM ACROSS THE ATLANTIC?
Yeah, back in 1998 — in just 73 days. But when he finally reached dry land in France, his first words were 'never again'.

NEVER AGAIN?
He said pollution in the ocean had a major impact on his decision never to repeat the feat. In fact, his bid to swim across the Pacific now is in an effort to collect research focusing on plastic pollution in the ocean, specifically the build-up of ‘plastic smog' containing billions of pieces of microplastic.

MORE POWER TO LACOMTE!