Indonesian Digital News Archive

Over the past two months we've been following Dave Cornthwaite on the latest leg of his Expedition 1000 project which he dubbed Swim 1000. That journey began in Chamberlain, South Dakota in early August where Dave plunged into the Missouri River and proceeded to swim down stream. This past Saturday he reached the finish line in the shadow of the famous Gateway Arch of St. Louis

Dave wasn't alone on his fantastic aquatic adventure and he'll be the first to tell you it wouldn't have been possible with out the help of his friends and support crew who followed along in kayaks and on stand-up paddleboards. They made the entire 1000 mile journey as well, which is certainly not to be overlooked in the amazing accomplishment of Dave's swim. Congratulations o the whole team on a job well done.

When he pulled himself out of the water in St. Louis on Saturday, Dave's official mileage total stood at 1005. That's an incredible distance to swim in such a relatively short time span and in order to keep up the pace he was consuming as much as 6000 calories per day. He also had to deal with high winds, the occasional storms and increasingly cooler temperatures.

Of course, the project wasn't just about taking a long swim in a muddy river. Dave and his team were also raising funds and awareness for Coppafeel, an organization dedicated to improving awareness of the importance of early detection of breast cancer. Definitely an important and worthy cause.

Dave will now take the remainder of the year for a much deserved rest while he plans his next adventures for 2013. He is also booking speaking engagements throughout the U.S. and if you're interested in having him speak in your area you can find out how to contact him here.

Well done mate! Hope you've enjoyed a few pints since finishing up!

It has been a few weeks since I posted an update on the progress of Dave Cornthwaite and his attempt to swim 1000 miles down the Missouri River. The journey began back in early August when Dave plunged into the water near Chamberlain, South Dakota with the plan of making his way down river to St. Louis. Now, nearly two months later, he is nearing the finish line at last.

Dave calls his little dip in the water Swim 1000 and it is part of his much larger Expedition 1000 project in which he is attempting to complete 25 separate journeys of 1000 miles or more without the use of motorized transportation. Of course, he's also doing it to raise funds for charity with a stated goal of earning £1,000,000 ($1.6 million) for his favorite causes. Currently those efforts are being aimed at the Coppafeel organization.

Since we last checked in with Dave, he and his support crew, who are following along in kayaks and on stand-up paddleboards, have been enjoying the hospitality of those that live in America's heartland while proceeding down the river. They've been blogging their journey as they go and it has been interesting to read the accounts of their day-to-day struggles. Today's entry is particularly interesting as it talks about what it takes to fuel a swimmer who is traveling 1000 miles along a river. In order to stay properly fueled, Dave is consuming more than 6000 calories per day, which seems like a lot of course, until you realize that he's spending around 10 hours each day in the water. That is a lot of energy burned!

Dave has now swum more than 800 miles and he's eying a finish in St. Louis on this coming Saturday. Keep an eye out on his website to find out where they plan to complete the journey and if you're in the neighborhood, head on by to say hello. In the meantime, checkout this great video from the early stages of the swim. It'll give you an idea of what it has been like for the past two months.

It has been a couple of weeks since we last checked in with Dave Cornthwaite and his team. You may recall that Dave has launched the latest leg of his Expedition 1000 project, in which he is undertaking 25 separate journeys of at least 1000 miles (1609km), each without the use of motorized transportation. Currently he is attempting to swim 1000 miles down the Missouri River while a group of friends, serving as his support crew, join him on stand-up paddle boards and kayaks.

This past weekend, Dave and company reached a significant milestone. Not only have they now completed more than a quarter of their journey but the also reached Sioux City, Iowa where they were able to take a rest day. After covering 41 miles (66km) the day before, I'd say that day off was most certainly well earned. The team took the opportunity to relax and resupply before returning to the water yesterday. According to Dave's Twitter account, that return to the river wasn't a good one however as high winds kept progress to a minimum.

The expedition began back in early August when Dave plunged into the Missouri River near Chamberlain, South Dakota. At that time he expected the entire swim to take approximately 50 days to complete, which would wrap it up near the end of the month. At the moment it appears that the team is a bit behind schedule however, so we'll have to wait to see if Dave is actually able to reach the finish line in St. Louis, Missouri as planned. A recent update to the Swim 1000 Blog indicates that they are expecting the speed of the river to pick-up soon however, which should aid their cause immensely.

While Dave is undertaking this thousand mile swim for the adventure he also is hoping to raise money for a charity along the way. For this leg of the Expedition 1000 project he has dedicated his efforts to raising funds for the CoppaFeel organization, a non-proft dedicated to improving the chances of the early detection of breast cancer. To find out more about CoppaFeel and how you can help, click here.

Dave Cornthwaite's Swim1000 expedition is proceeding – dare I say it – swimmingly. (I think I just heard a million Internet groans. Sorry folks, couldn't resist!) The team is now on their 11th day on the water and making solid progress as they proceed for 1000 miles (1609km) down the Missouri River from Chamberlain, South Dakota to St. Louis, Missouri. Dave is swimming the entire distance of course, but he's joined by a number of close friends who are paddling (stand-up or canoe) along with him.

Judging from the updates that have been posted to the Swim1000 blog, it seems that everyone is enjoying their time on the river. Not only are they getting the opportunity to experience an aquatic adventure, they're also meeting interesting and friendly people along the way. I have to imagine that the expedition team gets a few looks as they pass by on the water as well. After all, it's not often that you see a troupe of stand-up paddlers and one swimmer, go past.

As I mentioned in my previous story on Swim1000, Dave and his friends are hoping to raise funds for the CoppaFeel organization, a non-profit that is dedicated to raising awareness of the importance of early detection of breast cancer. A message they are spreading as they travel down river.

The video below gives you an idea of what Dave and the rest of his motley crew are up to on the Missouri. If you live along the river, keep an eye out for them. They expect to be out there for another 40 days or so.

British adventurer Dave Cornthwaite has launched the next leg of his Expedition 1000 project which has him undertaking 25 separate journeys of at least 1000 miles (1609km) in length without the use of motorized transportation of any kind. Past adventures have includes a 3638 mile (5854 km) crossing of Australia on a skateboard and a 2404 mile (3868 km) journey down the Mississippi River on a stand-up paddleboard. Dave's latest challenge is a 1000 mile swim down the Missouri River.

The Swim 1000, as Dave is calling his little dip in the river, got underway last Friday when he dove into the Missouri for the first time near Chamberlain, South Dakota. He'll now proceed down stream to St. Louis, Missouri at a pace of roughly 20 miles a day. That means that he expects to complete the swim in approximately 50 days or about the end of September.

Originally Dave had planned to make this journey a solo effort, pulling a raft with his gear and supplies behind him as he went. But he managed to convince several friends to join him on the expedition and now it is a complete river caravan making its way down river toward St. Louis. Dave is the only member of the group who is swimming the entire length, while others will stand-up paddleboard or use a canoe to cover the 1000 mile stretch of the Missouri. Updates are already being posted to the expedition blog, including audio dispatches, and Dave's Twitter feed has some great images for the river as well.

Being a generous sort of fellow, Dave is always trying to uses his adventures to raise funds for charity. In this case, he is hoping to generate £100,000 ($157,000) for CoppaFeel, an organization dedicated to educating women about the importance of early detection of breast cancer in an effort to stamp out that awful disease.

Good luck to Dave and the entire crew. Have fun on the water and stay safe out there.

British television personality and adventurer Ben Fogel has announced his plans to swim across the Atlantic Ocean and he intends to do it in record time. Fogel, who has also visited the South Pole and spent a year as a castaway on a Scottish island as part of a reality television show, says that he hopes to make the 3000 mile (4828km) journey in just 100 days.

The epic swim isn't scheduled to begin until next year, and Bogel has only now started to train in open water. But sometime in 2013 he intends to set out from the U.S. and continue swimming until he reaches cornwall in the U.K. In order to cover that distance in his target time, he'll need to average about 30 miles (48km) per day. He estimates he may need to spend as much as 12 hours per day in the water.

To date, only one other person is credited with swimming across the Atlantic. That was Benoit Lecomte who accomplished that feat back in 1998. There are some questions about the legitimacy of Lecomte's claims however as he his efforts were not strictly tracked by GPS. He did finish the swim in 73 days and went 3716 miles (5980km) in the process. He is also planning on swimming across the Pacific as well.

Also ramping up his efforts to swim the Atlantic is Dan Martin, who will attempt it as part of his Global Triathlon. He is expecting his crossing of the ocean to take upwards of six months and he'll be starting in the Hudson River and ending somewhere along the coast of France. He is currently in the States and preparing to begin his massive undertaking, which will also see him cycling and running around the world. Logistics have delayed the start, but he hopes to be underway very shortly.

Sometimes rowing an ocean isn't enough I guess, and you just have to jump in an start swimming. More power to these guys. I can't even imagine the effort required to swim these distances day in and day out.

Thanks To Julian Monroe Fisher for the tips on Ben's swim!