Going The Distance

American Woman Swims the Atlantic

2,000 miles of ocean despite extreme weather.

Jennifer Figge, a 56 year-old extreme athlete from Boulder Colorado, has become the first woman to swim the Atlantic Ocean, the Guardian reports. She swam the 2,000 miles from Cape Verde Islands to Trinidad over 24 days, although she only swam for 19 of those days due to rough seas. She made the journey inside a 19-foot by 14-foot cage to protect her from sharks, which she did not encounter during the trip. Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel in 1926, inspired Figge, who kept Ederle's picture on board. Frenchman Benôit Lecomte holds the record for swimming 3,716 miles from Cape Cod to Brittany in 73 days in 1998.