Record in the Caribbean: man swims from Barbados to St Lucia in 56.36 hours

It was not an easy trip. Every 30 minutes, Cameron Bellamy got to drink. Eat something every hour. His skin was smeared with a zinc cream to protect it from the sun and salt water. Once a hour, he applied petrolatum to his mouth, lips and tongue to minimize the damage caused by salt water.

It took 56 hours and 36 minutes for Bellamy to make it: he had swum from Barbados to St. Lucia. A total of 151.7 kilometers. According to his organization "Ubunye" this is a record.

Five hours into Cam's epic attempt to swim from Barbados to St Lucia! It's never been done and could be the longest channel swim ever. Swimming to support highly deserving causes. Track swim here: https://t.co/knrZmzzSRR @derekwatts #CameronsCaribbeanSwim #carbopro #ubunyechallenge pic.twitter.com/iiclQdSAxW

The 37-year-old started from St Peters Bay in Barbados. On Sunday he arrived at St. Lucia shortly before 5pm. There, Bellamy was welcomed by Prime Minister Allen Chastanet. According to local media reports, the endurance athlete was then first medically examined; but he had a good mood.

For Bellamy it was not the first exception. He has rowed across the Indian Ocean and swum across the English Channel. Now he had actually wanted to swim from Cuba to Florida Keys - a license for his dinghy was denied him in late August. So he changed the route.

This week I was denied the permission needed for my support boat for the Havana Key West swim. Plan B: Swim from Barbados to St. Lucia. Sept 2019. Never been done, comparable distance (160K). #carbopro #guenergy #honeystinger pic.twitter.com/nKkvoD7DD3

With his recent swimming campaign Bellamy wanted to raise funds. He founded a charity in 2011, which works in crisis regions in South Africa, Zimbabwe and more recently in the Caribbean. Bellamy himself grew up in Cape Town.