THREE months into a world record attempt, Riverina lad Tyral Dalitz is going with the flow.
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On June 5, the Oaklands native joined Ben Lecomte, who is attempting to be the first person to swim across the Pacific Ocean.
After being the first man to swim across the Atlantic in 1988, Lecomte is accompanied by the escort sailing yacht, Seeker, and her crew of eight as he travels from Japan to San Francisco in an effort to gain awareness about marine pollution.
Shark sightings are par for the course.
“Day one of The Swim, Ben had a shark swim underneath him, just a small one,” Dalitz said.
“Around Day 30, we had a shark come circle the dinghy; this time it wasn’t small at all, this time it was decent and certainly more capable of eating a swimmer.
“I first noticed it when it was about 20 metres ahead just circling in front of us; it really caught me by surprise immediately stopping the dinghy and calling to stop Ben swimming behind.
“Ben casually and calmly swam up to the dinghy, staying in the water while we all watched the fin continue to circle.
“After about 5 or 10 minutes of watching the shark it disappeared and Ben decided he would just keep swimming.”
“Since 2014 I have been trying to circumnavigate the world without flying,” he said.
“After making it from Australia to London at the end of 2016, I was hunting for a boat to sail across the Atlantic.
“The Swim had recently purchased their support boat in the UK, and was in need of crew to help deliver it to America.
“Originally, I was only wanting to get to Canada to find a much-needed job, but the catch for an Atlantic crossing with The Swim was to help with another two Pacific crossings as well.”
Dalitz was in a dinghy alongside Lecomte when he made his first strokes in the ocean; neither will see land for six to eight months.
“I’ve sailed 30,000 miles on my trip and the plastic pollution I’ve seen has made me want to act and do my part to help change our habits,” Dalitz said.
“I studied environmental science at university and this was the perfect opportunity to combine two things I’m passionate about, adventure and the environment.”
Dalitz is first mate on the 20-metre sailing boat and head researcher, collecting data on plastic pollution.
Follow The Swim on seeker.com/theswim.