Stève “Seal” Stievenart (@steve_stievenart) of France was recently inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame as an Honor Swimmer in its Class of 2025.

But he has no time to slow down and rest of his laurels.

The 47-year-old Frenchman from Wimereux keeps pushing to the extreme.

He has gone from an unprecedented three-way 96.9 km crossing of the Catalina Channel in 51 hours 18 minutes in 2023 to getting closer to achieving the Ice Sevens Challenge on a worldwide tour with Irishman Ger Kennedy.

During 2024, he has ventured around the world to accomplish these swims:

• January: participated in the 33.5 km Winter Relay of the English Channel, finishing in 14 hours 45 minutes
• February: completed an Ice Kilometer in 1°C water on the Antarctica Peninsula at the IISA Antarctica Ice Swimming Adventure
• May: completed an Ice Mile in Lke Tilsit, Morocco in 35:47 at 2,120 meters in altitude in 4.73° water and 2.10°C air temperature
• August: completed an Ice Mile in Lake Crakenback, Australia in 39:17 at 1,100 meters in altitude in 4.7°C water and 4.2°C air temperature
• October: completed an Ice Mile in Laguna del Inca, Chile in the Andes at 2,850 meters in altitude in 37:50 in 3.5°C water and 0.0°C air temperature
• November: completed a Polar Ice Mile in Longierbien, Svalbard fjord, Norway in 4°C water and -5.0°C air temperature in 34:50
• December: completed a 2 km Pool Mile in Mötz, Austria in 3.3°C water and 0.0°C air in 58:20
• December: completed an Ice Zero Mile in Ship Creek, Anchorage, Alaska in 0.8°C water in 36:31
• December: en route to Mombetsu, Japan with a television crew

In Alaska, Stievenart was accompanied by organizer and observer Ger Kennedy, witness Frederique Vandrepote, paramedic Vincent Dongean, and kayaker Gar Roche. Kennedy recalls, “We travelled from Ireland. With the assistance from local guide Derek of Adventure Alaska, it took us three days to locate this venue because all the lakes and sea areas were either frozen or inaccessible. Home Depot supplied us with hand tools to gain access to Ships Creek for safe entry and exit.

Stève’s recovery has been extremely painful and very emotional for both him and our team. His fingers swell during the swim. Rewarming is a very skilled procedure that scares most medically trained people. In my experience of three Ice Mile Zeros, fresh water seems to have more effects of extremities.“

Now they are on their final leg to complete the Ice Sevens, en route to a venue in Mombetsu in northern Japan.

Kennedy says, “We will find a location to swim and wait on permission from the port authorities and Japanese Coast Guard to allow us to proceed.”

It looks like his new autobiography, Steve Le Phoque – Le destin exceptionnel d’un homme sauvé par la mer, will need updating very soon.

© 2024 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

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