Magellan Swim Challenge

Summary

Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer who embarked on a 1519 Spanish expedition with the goal of crossing the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and opening a trade route to present day Indonesia. The voyage is well known for being the first to circumnavigate the Earth. Although Magellan himself did not survive to complete the journey, his name is synonymous with global navigation, exploration, and human tenacity.

Because of this, I introduce the epynomous Magellan Swim Challenge: swimming a distance approximately equal to the circumference of the Earth - 24,901 miles (40,075 km).

In reality, Magellan’s expedition covered almost 60,000 miles. But for the sake of the challenge, I chose to set a number that represents the shear act of encircling the globe just by swimming. Plus, you can create a swim route that is nearly the same distance (if you’re alright with a quick swim through the Panama Canal).

I’m not aware of anyone who has officially completed this yet, but I have a couple likely guesses: Benoît Lecomte and Martin Strel.

Personal Progress

I did not officially record all the practices of my competitive swimming career, but I believe a very conservative estimate is 11,000 miles. As of July 2024, I belive I have swam

in my life. On the interactive globe below, the green path represents the distance I have swam so far, and the red path represents the distance I have left to go. The overall path follows a hypothetical circumnavigation starting in the San Francisco Bay and crossing through the Panama Canal on the way back.