Monte Sets World Record Fighting Child Hunger

As part of last month’s Walk the World, ocean swimmer Monte Monfore tallied another world mark swimming to raise awareness of child hunger. Sunday May 21st, more than 760,000 people in 118 countries participated as walkers in the World Food Program event supporting hungry children. Invited by the United Nations to join as a swimmer, the 45-year-old American conquered the dangerous Bali Strait with a dramatic early morning double crossing.

The native Californian, living in Bali, began his swim to Java under the moon and stars at the Northwestern tip of Bali at 4:45am. Before entering the black ocean water at Pasir Putih beach, Monte spoke about world hunger and the goal of TNT and the World Food Program, to end child hunger by 2015. A fluorescent light stick attached to his swimsuit enabled support boats and camera crew to keep sight of the intrepid athlete in the pre-dawn darkness. As the sky lightened swirling waters and choppy seas disrupting the swimmer’s stroke became visible. Powering forward towards Java, at the halfway point Monte refused his 10-15 second drink break. This decision later proved crucial. Despite the adverse conditions an extraordinary performance saw him finish in a new single crossing world record time of 29 minutes 30 seconds, just eight seconds under his previous mark. (In February 2005 he swam a world record triple crossing of the Bali Strait in one hour 48 minutes.)
Monte’s return swim to Bali was much more arduous. Conditions worsened as the sun rose and the early morning wind increased. Battling strong seas and treacherous whirlpools the swimmer suffered jellyfish stings and dodged boat traffic as the current pulled him away from his destination and south into the wider part of the channel. After a one-hour 24-minute second crossing Monte touched the shore of Bali just north of Gilimanuk Bay. The boatmen estimated he swam more then 8 kilometers against a strong current most of the way.
The Bali Strait is roughly 3 kilometers at its narrowest point, six kilometers between Gilimanuk and Ketapang harbors, and widens southward. During the double crossing Monte strictly adhered to the three basic rules of ocean swimming: no fins, no wetsuit, and no touching the boat. The endurance athlete swims over a million meters a year (80-120 kilometers a month), training in pools and the ocean in Bali, California, and elsewhere. When congratulated for his world record-breaking performance he responded, "Well, thank you very much. What’s important, however... my goal with this swim, along with more than 700,000 participants in nearly 100 counties, is to raise awareness to fight world hunger, and especially to feed school children with the United Nations World Food Program. " The marathon swimmer continued, "In addition to raising awareness of child hunger, as always, with my swimming I aim to create awareness of ocean conservation. More than 10% of the world’s reefs have been destroyed. At the present rate of destruction nearly 50% will be destroyed within 20 or 30 years. Three-quarters of the earth is covered in water. Awareness and diligence are necessary to protect this most vital ecosystem on the planet. It’s our responsibility to safeguard the ocean for future generations." More about child hunger? Go to www.fighthunger.org .(BTN/*)