A 35-year-old American man from Tennessee has become the first person to paddle board between Cuba and the United States.
Musician Ben Friberg was accompanied by a support boat - his father among the crew - providing navigational advice and nutrition.
Friberg, who is from Chattanooga, stood for most of the trip from Port Hemingway, Cuba, to Key West, Florida, touching the sand at Key West's Smathers Beach Friday after completing the approximately 111-mile-crossing in 28 hours and 6 minutes.
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.
