It's only the opening weekend, and already Olympic swimming seems to be making the biggest splash. But one of the biggest stories didn't happen in the Olympic pools -- it happened on the beach in the south of France.

According to the Daily Mail, a 34-year-old man from London was enjoying a holiday at the Biarritz beach when suddenly he was taken with Olympic fever.

He bid his friends farewell, explaining that the only cure was to swim across the Atlantic to New York City and infect America with his enthusiasm.

His friends figured it was a joke, and let him take to the waves, assuming the strong swimmer would turn around eventually. After 300 yards, the lifeguards couldn't see him.

Sadly, the Londoner's hopes and dreams were dashed to pieces when a helicopter dropped a diver in the ocean to remind him that the distance from Biarritz to New York is 3,594.69 miles. He persisted, citing his advanced aquatic skills, but eventually accepted a line from a rescue dinghy and made his way back to the beach.

While his confidence is to be admired, we're left thinking that a train to Le Havre followed by a quick dip in the English Channel en route to London would have made far more sense.