Unfortunately for anyone who loves an inspirational story every now-and-then, this isn't true.
Reports surface today that the story was not only false, but filled with factual errors.
Figge started her journey, according to the original report, from Cape Verde, 500 miles off the western Atlantic coast, which would have given her a huge head-start.
The 56-year-old reportedly finished her swim from Cape Verde to Trinidad in 25 days, a feat which would be physically impossible, according to Yahoo Sports writer Chris Chase. Not to mention the fact that the distance is 2,400 miles, not the reported 2,100.
Figge's spokesman estimates that she only swam about 250 miles due to 'ocean hazards including incliment weather'.
While Figge claims that she never set-out to swim the entire Atlantic, earlier reports would indicate otherwise.
I can't believe that there were that many fact errors in a story. There's a huge difference between swimming 2,400 miles and 250 miles! The journalist must not have done any reporting with that many false facts in the story.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Figge or her reps corrected the mistakes in reporting and the AP was probably anxious to break the story, so I wouldn't fully put the blame on them...But you're right. They should've checked their numbers first.
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