KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) — A 35-year-old musician from Tennessee has completed a standup paddleboard crossing from Cuba to the Florida Keys.
Ben Friberg's board touched the sand at Key West's Smathers Beach Friday after completing the approximately 111-mile-crossing in 28 hours and 6 minutes.
The Chattanooga man stumbled as he walked on the beach and appeared dazed, not quite believing he had completed the trip.
In 2011, Miami Beach lifeguard Cynthia Aguilar crossed the Florida Straits on a paddleboard but did it in a lying down position. Unlike Friberg, Aguilar began her voyage 14 miles off the Cuban coast because she could not obtain a visa from Cuban officials.
Friberg is no stranger to long-distance paddleboarding. Last summer, he paddled 238 miles down the Yukon River in Canada.
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