Sunday 21 November 2021
122 kilometers in cold water
Amputee swims through Lake Titicaca
As an arm and leg amputee, Théo Curin swims Lake Titicaca from Peru to Bolivia. The Frenchman is not interested in just any record. Rather, the 21-year-old would like to draw attention to the pollution of the lake.
An arm and leg amputee from France successfully covered the 122 kilometers from one bank to the other of Lake Titicaca in South America. The 21-year-old Théo Curin arrived on Saturday (local time) in the Uru Islands on the Peruvian shores of the huge lake. He started his adventure on November 10th at the lakeside in the Bolivian village of Copacabana.
Curin was overjoyed on his arrival on the other bank. “That’s a lot of emotions,” he said. “There are a lot of people here on the beach, of course I didn’t expect that.”
Curin had both arms and both legs amputated at the age of six as a result of severe meningitis. The disabled athlete is two-time vice world champion in swimming and finished fourth in the 200-meter freestyle competition at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Trained for more than a year
He was accompanied by 39-year-old ex-swimmer Malia Metella and 27-year-old environmental activist Matthieu Witvoet on his crossing through the ice-cold Lake Titicaca, which is around 3800 meters high. The three French had trained in Lake Matemale in the Pyrenees for more than a year.
Curin and his companions took turns swimming, pulling a boat made of garbage behind them. They used this to sleep and eat. With the sensational campaign, the three athletes said they wanted to draw attention to environmental pollution.
Lake Titicaca is located in the border area between Bolivia and Peru and is the largest freshwater lake in South America. It is heavily polluted by toxins from surrounding mines and garbage.