Belgian extreme sports athlete Matthieu Bonne has become known for breaking records. Now, he has set his sights on a new attempt to have his name put up in the hall of sports fame.
The sportsman for the Flemish province of West Flanders will attempt to break the world record for non-stop swimming in the sea at the end of this summer, between 30 August and 2 September. To do so, Bonne will have to swim more than 125.7 kilometres.
While Bonne has only just recovered from his latest world record – earlier this year he cycled 3,619.72 km in Arizona, a distance which even the best of cyclists would only cover in two to three weeks, in just seven days – he is already looking to tackle his next challenge.
During his next challenge, he is not allowed to put on a wetsuit, touch boats, land or people, or take breaks to rest or sleep. Furthermore, Bonne is not allowed to use aids such as a sports watch, buoys or other floating items during his attempt.
The world record attempt will be made in the Bay of Corinth in Greece, chosen for the ability to swim long straight lanes, and for its ideal water temperature. Bonne will be supported by a team of nine, both in the support boat and ashore.
"My first goal is to break the current world record, but if I still feel good after that distance, I intend to swim on as long as I can," he said. He will likely have to remain in the water for between two and three full days without sleep, which he noted will probably be the biggest challenge.
He will travel to Greece on 27 August to start his challenge on Wednesday 30 August at noon. The attempt can be followed via his tracker.
Track record
The 29-year-old, who is also a rescuer at a swimming complex in Bruges, has shown his passion for extreme sports in the past.
Aside from cycling for 20 hours a day at an average speed of 30 km per hour, for seven days straight, he was also the first person ever to have completed a series of triathlons on the Canary Islands in 2022. Every day for eight days, Bonne swam 3.8 kilometres, cycled 180 kilometres and ran a marathon on each of the inhabited islands.
Credit: Matthieu Bonne/Facebook
He has also challenged himself by participating in a number of sporting events such as climbing Mont Blanc, completing an iron man marathon, becoming the first person to swim the entire Belgian coastline without pausing – since then, this record was beaten by a Belgian woman, Marieke Blomme – and completing the Marathon des Sables in Morocco.
Bonne is known to Flemish audiences as having appeared in the TV show Kamp Waes in 2019, a show that selected 14 participants to go through the same training tests that Belgian Special Forces go through.
