Strong currents stop John Procope from completing 100K swim around Tobago

JOHN Procope's goal of completing a 100K swim around Tobago fell short as currents stalled his progress, which eventually forced him to return to shore on the evening of October 14 after 33 hours in the water.

Procope began his swim on the morning of October 13 at Crown Point accompanied by a supporting cast, including a small boat with food and drinks. A kayak also kept Procope company, while he had swimmers Jacob Cox and William Carr tagging along part of the way.

Procope completed approximately 68 per cent of the journey, but off the coast of Speyside they had to stop the mission due to strong currents.

Shortly after returning to shore, Procope's Facebook page said, "Due to safety concerns everyone is safely back in Scarborough. Safety comes first. Couldn’t beat very strong current just past Speyside...took over an hour and still in pretty much the same place. Fatigued. Had to abort."

In an additional video, Procope thanked all those who believed in him.

The first half of the swim was in the Caribbean Sea, which normally has calmer waters. The second half of the trek in the Atlantic Ocean, where he would have stopped, sometimes proves to be a challenge and on this occasion the current was too much for Procope.

This is not the first time Procope has attempted to accomplish a swim of this magnitude.

In October 2024, Procope completed a swim from Tobago to Trinidad in roughly 25 hours.