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DAKAR, Senegal -- Former British police officer Ben Hooper hopes to make history by swimming every mile of the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to South America. After more than three years of preparation, he set off on Sunday.The 38-year-old walked down a beach in Dakar and into the Atlantic Ocean, launching a swim for 1,635 nautical miles, or nearly 2,000 land miles (3,200 kilometers), from Senegal to Brazil.This is for my daughter, said Hooper, who filled a water bottle with sand to keep for the 8-year-old who he said inspired the swim. Its been a long time coming.Flanked by two boats and a crew of less than a dozen, Hooper aims to be the first person to swim every mile of the Atlantic Ocean from continent to continent, stepping on land again in March.He says he trained three years as he gathered a crew for the Big Blue, the main boat on which he will eat and sleep when he is not swimming for about eight hours each day through waters infested with sharks and jellyfish.Water has loomed large in his life.I nearly drowned when I was 5 in a swimming pool in Belgium, Hooper told The Associated Press. Ever since ... Ive had this affinity with water. It was the calmest Ive ever felt.Hooper said he had a bout of depression about 3 1/2 years ago and decided to turn his life around for his daughter. So he looked to water.Nobody had swum a full ocean. More people have landed on the moon than have tried this, so at that point I thought maybe this is my calling, said Hooper. If I can inspire myself, other people and raise money for charity, why not do it?Inspired by British explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Hooper said he hopes to motivate others, especially children, to swim.Funding for the expedition has taken time, and the launch was set back several times as various crew members dropped out and the boats faced mechanical issues.This will be a major achievement overall, said Nigel Taylor-Schofield, the captain of Big Blue. If anybody can accomplish this, it would be Ben. He is very determined.The crew, including a paramedic, will track the miles, and Hooper has said if he gets to Brazil with the help of currents, he will swim until he fulfills the full Atlantic mileage.The challenges, be it marine life, dehydration, and more, will be vast, but Hooper says his biggest fear is letting the team and his daughter down. Hell listen to a playlist on customized earphones that he said will include eurotrash music, Eminem and The Scripts Hall of Fame. Hooper will also wear various gear that helps camouflage him from sharks, and a tracking device so supporters can follow his nearly five-month swim online.Around 10:30 a.m. on the beach outside the Monaco Plage hotel in Dakar, Hooper and the crew were ready.See you in Brazil, he said, before eventually swimming off into the sunlit waters toward his goal.---http://www.swimthebigblue.com/--Follow Carley Petesch on Twitter at www.twitter.com/carleypetesch Florida Panthers Pro Shop . Woodson said during a radio interview Thursday that the Knicks Carmelo Anthony doesnt get the same calls as other superstars. Florida Panthers Store . The Lightning are 2-0 so far on a four-game road trip, giving the club five straight wins as the guest and improving Tampas away record this season to 11-8-2. https://www.panthersjerseycheap.com/ . Lack made 20 saves for his third shutout of the season as the Canucks blanked the St. Louis Blues 1-0 in the first post-Olympic game for both teams night. Custom Florida Panthers Jerseys .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Fake Panthers Jerseys . Westbrook has missed 27 games since having a procedure on Dec. 27 to deal with swelling in his injured right knee — the third operation on the knee in nine months. Australians Cameron Smith and Ashley Hall lost a playoff Sunday at the Emirates Australian Open, but the pair -- along with fellow Aussie Aaron Baddeley -- still punched their tickets to The Open in July.All three earned their places at Royal Birkdale via The Open Qualifying Series, which has 44 spots up for grabs in the months leading up to the years third major. The next two entries will be available at the SMBC Singapore Open, which will be played at Sentosa Golf Club from Jan. 19-22.Smith, 23, has never played in The Open, which will be contested July 19-23. He has teed it up in four majors, with a T-4 at the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay being his best finish.Hall, 33, qualified foor his second Open and just his second major championship, the first coming in 2012 at Royal Lytham & St Annes.dddddddddddd.Baddeley, the 35-year-old four-time winner on the PGA Tour, claimed his spot in the 146th Open Championship by virtue of a higher world ranking (149th) than those players he finished tied for fourth with at the Australian Open. Ryan Fox (158th), Rod Pampling (166th), Geoff Ogilvy (232nd) and Jason Scrivener (322nd) all would have made the field at Royal Birkdale had their world rankings been the highest among the group that finished T-4. ' ' '