56yearold becomes 1st woman to swim Atlantic (AP)-Jennifer Figge pressed her toes into the Caribbean sand, excited and exhausted as she touched land this week for the first time in almost a month. Reaching a beach in Trinidad, she became the first woman on record to swim across the Atlantic Ocean--a dream she'd had since the early 1960s,when a stormy transAtlantic   flight got her thinking she could wear a life vest and swim the rest of the way if needed. The 56yearold left the Cape Verde Islands off Africa's western coast on Jan.12,2009, swimming 19 out of 25 days battling waves of up to 30 feet.The distance from Cape Verde to Trinidad is about 700 miles.Crewmembers are still computing exactly how many miles she swam. The original plan was for her to swim to the Bahamas--a distance of about 2,100 miles--but inclement   weather forced her to change her plans and she arrived at Trinidad on Feb.5.She now plans to swim from Trinidad to the British Virgin Islands,ending her voyage at the Bitter End Yacht Club in late February. Her journey came a decade after French swimmer Benoit Lecomte made the first known solo transAtlantic swim,covering nearly 4,000 miles from Massachusetts to France in 73 days.No woman on record had made the crossing. Figge wore a red cap and wet suit,with her only goodluck charm   underneath:an old,red shirt to guard against chafing  ,signed by friends,relatives and her father,who recently died.The other cherished   possession she kept onboard was a picture of Gertrude Ederle,an American who became the first woman to swim across the English Channel."We have a few things in common,"Figge said,"She wore a red hat and she was of German descent  .We both talked to the sea,and neither one of us wanted to get out." Jennifer Figge had to change her plans  _  .
because she wanted to shorten her voyage because of bad weather conditions because she wanted to end her voyage in late February because she wanted to set a new world record