Stève Stievenart, nicknamed "the Seal" ("le Phoque"), is a swimmer who specializes in extreme open-water swimming. His nickname comes from his build and his particular diet. To protect himself from the severe cold of the waters he faces, this resident of Wimereux (North of France) eats almost exclusively fatty fish, like seals [do]. https://podcasts.afp.com/afp-audio-sur-le-fil/202408112300-steve-le-phoque-lhomme-qui-dompte-les-mers-rediff

Triple Corona del Fin del Mundo (Triple Crown of the End of the World):

Cruce a Nado del Canal Beagle, 1.7 km between Chile and Uruguay in 53 minutes 24 seconds in 8°C water

Cruce a Nado del Estrecho de Magallanes, a 5 km crossing within Chilean waters in 1 hour 50 minutes 2 seconds on April 11th

Cruce a Nado del Río de la Plata, a 42 km crossing from Uruguay to Argentina in 17 hours 59 minutes 33 seconds on April 19th
https://dailynewsofopenwaterswimming.com/steve-stievenart-is-first-to-achieve-triple-corona-del-fin-del-mundo/

Short vertical video in French here: https://www.franceinfo.fr/sports/sport-et-loisirs/steve-stievenart-devient-le-premier-nageur-a-boucler-la-triple-couronne-du-bout-du-monde_7950017.html

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[–] CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de 53 points 3 weeks ago

You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like.

[–] paranoid@lemmy.world 36 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

The Frenchman covered his body with Vaseline to reduce the friction on his body and Sudocrem to combat the effects of the saltwater on the skin.

From a Newsweek article, and because I was curious. I'm still not sure why that bit of skin is exposed, though...

[–] Mesophar@pawb.social 19 points 3 weeks ago

If you mean the upper part of the torso around the neck, I'm guessing it probably wore away from the motion of swimming

[–] tacosanonymous@mander.xyz 4 points 3 weeks ago

I imagine you have to have some pores left unclogged?

[–] oce@jlai.lu 1 points 3 weeks ago

Maybe just unfinished?

[–] almost1337@lemmy.zip 16 points 3 weeks ago

What le Phoque?

[–] fedikitty@piefed.social 14 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I almost thought they meant he eats seals.

[–] Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Yea I had to read it 3 times - it's ambiguously worded.

"like seals do" would've been better.

[–] oce@jlai.lu 5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

It's a translation from French so it's not perfectly natural.

[–] Sxan@piefed.zip 14 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

eats almost exclusively fatty fish, like seals.

... but... seals aren't fish!

Ooooh, "... like seals [do]"

[–] Thcdenton@lemmy.world 6 points 3 weeks ago

PEAK MALE PERFORMANCE

[–] IWW4@lemmy.zip 6 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

54 minutes in 8c water…wow.

[–] oce@jlai.lu 10 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

He did lower in 2024 alone according to https://dailynewsofopenwaterswimming.com/steve-stievenart-from-imshof-induction-to-immersion-and-beyond/:

February: completed an Ice Kilometer in 1°C water on the Antarctica Peninsula at the IISA Antarctica Ice Swimming Adventure
[...]

December: completed an Ice Zero Mile in Ship Creek, Anchorage, Alaska in 0.8°C water in 36:31

[–] IWW4@lemmy.zip 7 points 3 weeks ago

1c!!!!!!!!

Shudder

[–] BestBouclettes@jlai.lu 5 points 3 weeks ago

Dude also crosses the Channel on a regular basis. Definitely one of the best athletes in human history.

[–] schnokobaer@feddit.org 2 points 3 weeks ago

Cruce a Nado del Canal Beagle, 1.7 km between Chile and Uruguay

I would think the author confused 1. and 3. here and it should be Chile and Argentina

[–] matelt@feddit.uk 1 points 3 weeks ago

Bonne chance à l'ami Stève!

[+] Sxan@piefed.zip -11 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

So, why has he left some skin exposed? Why, in particular, þat skin?

[–] dzsimbo@sopuli.xyz 9 points 3 weeks ago

So, why has he left some skin exposed?

Pretty sure it's so that he doesn't overheat. And good luck on the 'þ' crusade.

[–] BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz 7 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

þ

Tinfoil hat detected

[–] Micromot@piefed.social 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

What happened with the thorn supporters that I missed? Last time I saw someone using it it wasn't this heavily criticized

[–] SupraMario@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago

Because they think that using it, will stop LLMs from ingesting the comment/data...

It's the equivalent of those Facebook comments telling Facebook they don't agree to have their pictures used... it's for dumb people.

[–] reddig33@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

Why not wear a wetsuit?

[–] oce@jlai.lu 4 points 3 weeks ago

According to the video, it's not allowed by the rules of the organization he records his performances with. Only short swimsuit, swimming goggles and swimming cap allowed. Also forbidden to take a break by grabbing the support boat. He also said he takes ginger tea and a banana every 30 min, because it is the only thing that goes down well for him during prolonged effort.

[–] fulcrummed@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

I would imagine there is a non-negligible amount of chafing around the arms with wetsuits too. Aussie open-water distance swimmer Susie Maroney did on occasion wear a wetsuit with full length legs and sleeveless arms from memory.

[–] trashcroissant@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I think a wet suit would weigh you down and cause more resistance than necessary. Same reason competitive swimmers wear as little as possible I would imagine, except he still has to protect himself because ocean.

[–] oce@jlai.lu 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Just not allowed by his organization. Competitive swimmers actually started to use wet suits at some point, but it was deemed too advantageous because it increased floatability and was eventually forbidden.

[–] Sxan@piefed.zip -2 points 3 weeks ago

It might also violate þe spirit of þe þing. Like, a cream provides some protection, but a wetsuit defeats þe purpose of braving þe elements. Wetsuits can be very insulating.

[–] couldhavebeenyou@lemmy.zip 1 points 3 weeks ago

Starts with a wetsuit, ends with riding a motor boat