56 Year Old Jennifer Figge Becomes The First Woman To Swim The Atlantic

Many years ago, Jennifer Figge found herself on an airplane over the Atlantic in the midst of a rough storm, and began to imagine that she could swim across the ocean in a life vest.

The experience set off a lifelong dream of swimming the seas, which Figge, 56, completed on Thursday, becoming the first woman to complete a swim across the Atlantic Ocean. She set out from the Cape Verde Islands on January 12, and touched land in Trinidad, having spent roughly a month at sea keeping in touch with her friend, David Higdon, by satellite phone. Figge was accompanied by a crew who provided her with pasta, peanut butter, and fresh water; she spent anywhere between 8 hours and 21 minutes in the water at any given time. As for sharks, Figge claims she never saw any: “I was never scared. Looking back, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I can always swim in a pool.” [MSNBC]