Limbless man to swim five continents

A Frenchman who lost his limbs in an accident braved strong winds and currents to swim from Papua New Guinea to Indonesia, in the first stretch of a mission to swim between five continents.

Philippe Croizon, 43, who uses prosthetic limbs with flippers attached, took seven-and-a-half hours to make his way from the Papua New Guinea village of Wutung to Pasar Skow in Indonesia’s Papua province.

The 20km journey between two points on New Guinea island, which is shared between the two countries, was billed as the Oceania-Asia stretch of his challenge, which involves three more stages.