Disabled man swims from Africa to Asia

A Frenchman who lost all of his limbs in an accident yesterday braved hot weather and sharks to swim across the Red Sea from Egypt’s Taba to Aqaba in Jordan as part of a global challenge. Using prosthetic limbs with flippers attached, Philippe Croizon, 44, left Taba at 0630GMT and arrived in Aqaba more than five hours later at 1150GMT. “I am very happy that I have made it. It is a great feeling to swim between Africa and Asia,” Croizon told AFP. French swimmer Arnaud Chassery as well as two disabled Jordanians, Mohamed Smadi and Mohamed Sawaai, accompanied Croizon throughout the challenge. “We are all sunburned. We had to drink loads of water. It was very very hot and the sun was blazing. But the sea was calm and nice,” said Croizon, wearing a red-and-white keffiyeh head scarf. “I think we swam 15-20km. We did not swim in a straight line in order to avoid some strong currents.” Four Jordanian boats accompanied the swimmer and Croizon’s team and French embassy officials were on hand to welcome him ashore. “Bravo, bravo,” they chanted when Croizon arrived. Croizon said: “Obtaining authorisation from the Egyptian side was difficult. We had to sign tonnes of documents.” “But thank God, we have achieved our goal at this stage, proving that there is no difference between a disabled swimmer and a normal swimmer.” The Red Sea is infested with more than 40 species of shark. Croizon, who swam the English Channel in 2010, has set out on his aquatic journey across the globe to highlight the abilities of disabled people, and to convey a message of peace and solidarity. He had to have all four limbs amputated after he suffered an electric shock of more than 20,000 volts in 1994 as he tried to remove a TV antenna from a roof. In July, he plans to swim between Europe and Africa by traversing the Strait of Gibraltar. And in August, he will swim between the islands of Big Diomede in Russia and Little Diomede in the US.