'I'M SWIMMING THE ATLANTIC WITH MY HUSBAND'

Exercise challenges provide a great platform for raising awareness of vital causes. Here, Chloé Witvoet explains how her love of long-distance swimming is helping to protect the oceans

- Words: Katja Gaskell

After we swam across the Strait of Gibraltar, we realised that it is possible to swim from one continent to another,' says Chloé Witvoet.

'Something just clicked in our brains and, at some point, we thought, “Why not try the Atlantic?”

In September 2025, 29-year-old Chloé and her 31-year-old husband, Matthieu (Matt) set sail from Marseille, France bound for Cape Verde off the coast of Africa. The island, best known as a winter sun destination, was the starting point for the couple's latest challenge, an epic drift relay swim across the Atlantic ocean.

Starting on October 30, the couple took turns swimming up to six hours each per day, beginning at 6am and swimming in two-hour shifts until 6pm. Swimming every day, they estimated that it would take them three months to swim the 3,800km (2,360 mile) distance, and that they would arrive at their final destination, the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, by January 2026.

By completing the epic challenge, they hoped that they could break the record for the world's longest swim relay, but their main goal was to raise awareness about the importance of ocean conservation.

MEETING OF MINDS

Born to French parents, Chloé grew up overseas and learned to swim as a child, competing in her school swim team until she graduated. In 2015, while studying engineering at the University of Loughborough, she met Matt through the university's triathlon club.

Shortly after meeting, her new boyfriend learned that he had been accepted to take part in the Strait of Gibraltar swim challenge and asked Chloé if she wanted to join him.

'We had only been together for two months and he asked three friends before asking me,' says Chloé. 'Fortunately, his friends had all turned him down!'.