Michael Moreau, 49, Swims 29 Miles Around Manhattan in Handcuffs, Earning Two World Records

Swimming just under 29 miles of open water is challenging in itself; add the impairment of handcuffs, and it reaches a new level of strenuous swimming.

In September, Michael Moreau, 49, decided to hop in the water just off the southern tip of Manhattan and swim up the East River, through Harlem, and back down the Hudson, completing the 28.5-mile swim, but this time with the hindrance of handcuffs.

“When I started hearing these stories about people who had not given up on the opportunity to really test the limits, I thought, ‘Why can’t I do this thing?” Moreau said, according to the New York Post. “That was the beginning of my journey of trying to figure out how I was gonna realize my potential, and I knew I needed to do it in the water.”

Moreau was a frequent swimmer in his younger years, going so far as to say that he told his parents, “before I could even speak, that my desire was to be in the water. That’s what I was made to do and where I was made to thrive.”

He put a halt to his swimming career after high school and college; he decided to hang up the goggles for nearly two decades. Later in life, he got back into the sport after seeing Diana Nyad and Ross Edgley in his social media feeds. He felt that he still had more swimming in him.

“I thought, ‘This is uncharted territory for me. This is something that I feel like I need to pursue,’” Moreau said. “And I kind of went out at full force.”

Moreau then hired a coach to help him train for open water swimming. He then attempted the Molokai Channel Swim in Hawaii, a 42-kilometer (26.1 miles, just under a marathon’s distance) challenge. He completed it in 13 hours and 11 minutes, the 14th-fastest time ever for that swim.

But that swim still didn’t satisfy him. “I wonder if there’s something a little bit off the beaten path that is a little bit more controversial,” he said.

Then came the handcuffed swim idea, inspired by Egyptian swimmer Shehab Allam, who completed a record distance of 11.6 kilometers (7.21 miles) in 2022.

“The first thing that went through my head is the same thing that I think goes through a lot of people’s heads: That’s wild. Why would you even do anything like that?” Moreau said.

His new journey stood in the form of topping Allam’s distance by swimming around the entire perimeter of Manhattan.

“If I am able to pull this off… this will be the defining moment of my open-water career”. Moreau said to the New York Post.

In preparation for the event, Moreau moved apartments so he could access a 25-yard, 24-hour pool; he trained in brutal weather and current conditions off Coney Island and racked up weekly totals of 37 miles in handcuffs, while still pursuing his day job.

“You eventually learn how to adapt yourself out of that mindset and realize what you need to focus on is your swimming, how you’re handling the waves, how you’re handling the currents, your breathing,” Moreau said. “You try to manage everything that is in your control.”

On the morning of September 9th, Moreau jumped in, accompanied by a crew that included a Guinness World Records adjudicator, and set off on a historic feat.

Moreau described the feeling as “euphoric”, yet the conditions were still challenging, even more so with the top half of his body relatively neutralized.  Moreau said that swimming through the reverse-flow water of the Harlem felt like hitting a “brick wall.”

In the final 12 miles of the swim, heading back down the Hudson, Moreau realized that the construction that was taking place on the Lincoln Tunnel had created a dangerous current that could pull him right under the barge.

“I had no idea until after the swim…how dire that situation was,” Moreau said.

After getting through the potential danger, Moreau’s kayaker told him that if her were to pick up the pace, he could finish the swim in under 10 hours. Moreau’s initial goal was under 11 hours.

After a sprint kick to close out the swim, Moreau had finished in nine hours and 41 minutes.

“It was the culmination of everything that led up to it — the uncertainty, the amount of doubt in my mind about: Have I gone past even what is humanly possible?” Moreau said. “To have that far-fetched pipe dream — where literally everybody is telling me, ‘You’ve gone too far, this is madness at this point’’ —  finally crystallized into reality…was monumental.”

The swim not only signified the completion of a massive goal for Moreau, but also now stands as a Guinness World Record for both completing the longest open-water swim in handcuffs and as the fastest (and first) to circumnavigate Manhattan’s waterways in shackles.