Alexandre de Almeida Carvalho Completes Travessia do Leme ao Pontal
Adherbal de Oliveira, the president of Leme to Pontal Swimming Association, reported that Alexandre de Almeida Carvalho completed the 36 km Travessia do Leme ao Pontal in 12 hours 24 minutes.
“With experience in marathon swims, including the 24 km Travessia 14 Bis in the Bertioga Channel eight times, he focused on year-long preparation on the Travessia do Leme ao Pontal where his training sessions were held at AABB in Niterói at Ratto D’Água with coach Ricardo Rosa who established a weekly volume of 40 km, averaging 8 km per day.
The swim from Leme to Pontal started at 4:13 am with the expectation of good winds and good waves, in addition to a 0.9 meter variation of tide that significantly helped Alexandre during the initial stretch. He knew how to take advantage of the favorable conditions, swimming over 3.5 km per hour. He was motivated.
However, during the rocky stretch of São Conrado Beach, close to the halfway point, Alexandre had to overcome an oncoming current and the presence of jellyfish. He followed the instructions of Hall of Famer Ricardo Continentino Ratto and increased his stroke count to quickly swim past this part of the course. Once the currents were overcome, Alexandre remained focused, always closely followed by the escort boat Olympus 2 of captain Tiago Alberto da Silva with LPSA observer Ricardo Ferreira.
With an impressive performance that caused many followers and open water swimmers to send messages and comments through the Leme to Pontal Swimming Association (LPSA) social media, Alexandre made good progress over the course. But when a strong east wind slammed into the coast of Rio de Janeiro, his pace increased but it made it difficult for him to hydrate, due to the big swells.
At this moment, Alexandre proved to be very well prepared physically and mentally. He kept calm and continued advancing towards the finish, completing the Travessia do Leme ao Pontal in 12 hours 24 minutes on a sunny and beautiful morning.”
Copyright © 2008 – 2022 by World Open Water Swimming Association
