Magno de Souza Ribeiro Completes the 36 km Traversia do Leme ao Pontal
Adherbal de Oliveira, President of LPSA, reported, “After a failed attempt due to difficult sea conditions, 52-year-old Magno de Souza Ribeiro arrived in the city of Rio de Janeiro to carry out the Travessia do Leme ao Pontal having carried out a strong and consistent preparation of more than an year with the experienced coach Glauco Rangel.
Ribeiro is from the city of Volta Redonda, a city in the interior of the State of Rio de Janeiro and carried out most of his preparation cycle with daily training in the pool. Even though he does not have much experience in marathon swimming, Ribeiro decided to go after the 36 km Travessia, the most beautiful and challenging crossing in Brazil where swimmers cruise pass beautiful beaches, offshore islands, and archipelagos. He knew that he would have to swim at night and face currents, winds and ocean swells that would test his physical and mental limits.
Ribeiro started at 4:28 am on February 19th on a cloudy morning, but his crew expected favorable winds, swells, and currents. His swim started with the tide flowing into Guanabara Bay, helping him over the first 10 kilometers when he swam close to 4 kilometers per hour. He proved himself to be very well prepared and managed to overcome the part where the current was against him, near the beach of São Conrado.
Overcoming this intense area, Ribeiro kept his focus and continued swimming with a standard pace over the final stretch of 18 kilometers that passes by the beaches of Barra da Tijuca, Reserva and Recreio dos Bandeirantes. As he skirted Pedra do Pontal, he arrived with his arms right raised to celebrate a successful swim in 12 hours 1 minute.
He wrote his name in the history books as the 46th swimmer to complete the Travessia do Leme ao Pontal.”
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