One Londoner had an extreme case of Olympic fever as he was spontaneously inspired to swim across the Atlantic Ocean from a beach in southern France. However, he only made it 300 yards.
The unnamed 34-year-old Michael Phelps wannabe was vacationing with friends on Biarritz beach in France when he suddenly told his friends that he wanted to bring the Olympic spirit across the pond to New York in an over 3,594-mile journey.
His friends thought he was kidding, but knowing that he was a strong swimmer, they let him attempt his spontaneous goal. However lifeguards didn't. As the man swam out 300 yards, way past the legal bathing limits, and out of sight, beach lifeguards called a helicopter to rescue him. A rescuer jumped from the helicopter, into the waters, and told the man that swimming across the Atlantic Ocean wouldn't be a very good idea. He advised him to turn around and head back to France.
The man insisted that he was a good swimmer and he was up to the challenge. Soon lifeguards arrived and put an end to his pseudo-Olympic dreams. They brought a rescue tube and brought him back to the beach.
"He was a bit naive.But at a time when the Olympics are taking place in London you have to see the funny side of things," Laurent Saintespes, senior officer at Biarritz airbase told Agence France Presse.
He didn't even get a medal.
There is no mention of whether or not alcohol was involved.
British Man Gets Olympic Fever, Tries to Swim... by Buzz60
