Steve Stievenart was a marathon runner before embarking on this incredible adventure of crossing the English Channel to swimming in open water. After this exploit, he multiplied the records: that of the latest crossing of the English Channel last November, and very recently the Triple Crown, after having made the round trip Los Angeles-Santa Catalina.
At the microphone of Bixente Lizarazuhe talks about his journey and his crossings, his physical condition and his passion for water and the defense of the environment.
Crossing the English Channel in open water: a long-prepared challenge
The Triple Crown that Stève Stievenart managed to complete this year is a famous open water swimming competition, which includes crossing the Channel there and back, two tours of Manhattan and the Los Angeles-Santa Catalina round trip.
Stève Stievenart was a marathon runner when, following personal and professional difficulties, he challenged himself to succeed crossing the English Channel there and back in open waterto realize a childhood dream: his grandfather took him to see the departures for the crossing which then took place at Cap Gris-Nez and which had fascinated him. “This crossing of the Channel, you should know that it is very old, it has existed since 1875, it is called the Everest of swimming, it is a bit like our tour of France to us. »
Steve Stievenart goes prepare for almost five years and surround himself with the best specialists to support him in this challenge.
“Extreme freestyle, you’re not allowed wetsuits, the rules are just swimming trunks, a cap and goggles. So we are really confronted with the elements, especially the cold, if we take the example of crossing the English Channel, so we have to do a lot of work in preparation and adaptation to the cold, that’s the secret. Me who comes from running, who was 63 kg, it was very complicated this management of the cold. So the first enemy, the first thing, before talking about swimming, is managing the cold. »
The body, to fight against the cold water, consumes a lot of calories. Stève Stievenart will voluntarily take about fifty kilos, over a period of four years, and supervised by dieticians. It now weighs 100 kg and feeds mainly on oily fish : sardines, mackerels, herrings and anchovies constitute a large part of his diet (about 1 kg per day), hence his nickname of “Steve the Seal”, Steve the seal, given to him by the English athletes with whom he s train.
” It’s nature that writes my day” – Stève Stievenart
In addition to this particular diet, Stève Stievenart’s life is entirely punctuated by swimming and night and day workouts. He even adjusts to the tides to adjust his schedule. ” It is nature that writes my day. »
mental preparation is also very important: meditation, visualization of mental images, breathing techniques allow the extreme swimmer to face the crossings, the anxieties and the risks that punctuate them.
For the round trip that Stève Stievenart made for his last record in November 2021, in water at 12°C and with a northerly wind, he spent exactly 34 hours 45 minutes in the waterwithout touching anything between the French beach and the English beach.
night swimming is particularly challenging: “At night we become prey again. » It happened to him, during certain crossings, to be grazed by a big seal, and to find himself in the middle of jellyfish, whose tentacles sometimes measure nearly 20 meters. He even found himself trapped in a net.
It is thanks to this relentless and passionate work that Stève Stievenart was able to realize his dreams, not only that of crossing straits in extreme conditions, but also that of live closer to water and nature : “I’m in tune with nature, and in connection with nature, so it’s a magical moment every time. »
As he prepares for new challenges, today he also wishes to pass on his passion for water and for the defense of the environment, in particular through the foundation he created, “Stop Plastic Pollution”.