44°55′10″N 124°00′36″W / 44.919328°N 124.010103°W
Richard Swanson | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 19, 1970 Yakima, Washington, U.S. |
| Died | May 14, 2013 (aged 42) Lincoln City, Oregon, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Traffic collision |
Richard Swanson was a 42-year-old American man who tried to dribble a soccer ball from the U.S. city of Seattle, Washington, to São Paulo, Brazil. On May 14, 2013, he died after being hit by a pickup truck alongside U.S. Route 101 just outside Lincoln City, Oregon, 270 miles into his planned journey of roughly 10,000 miles. The driver of the truck was tried twice for negligent homicide, the first trial resulting in a hung jury and the second in an acquittal.
Swanson's journey, dubbed Breakaway Brazil, was an ambitious effort that would have taken him through 11 countries over the course of 407 days, through severe conditions and high-crime areas. Robert Andrew Powell of Grantland, in a posthumous profile of Swanson, concluded it was very unlikely he would have succeeded. Swanson live-blogged the effort on social media, and received material support along his route from fans, including people who recognized him on the side of the road. Reflections upon his death focused on his advocacy for One World Futbol—the type of soccer ball he dribbled—and on his having found purpose, as a middle-aged, recently laid-off divorcé, in the fanbase he amassed.