Waterbaby: Martin Strel, Amazon swimmer

Martin Strel is a long distance swimmer from Slovenia. He shot to fame in 2007 when he swam the entire length of the Amazon river (5,268 km) in 66 days.

My first memory of the water is catching trout with my hands at the local lake. I was taught to swim there by older friends when I was around 5 or 6 years old.

I grew up in a small village in Slovenia so there were no swimming lessons and my parents couldn’t swim. My inspiration was Johnny Weissmuller from the film Tarzan.

Before becoming a swimmer I was a gymnast. Then one day (back in 1976) my coach told me that I should try a marathon in the pool, so I did it! I swam my first world cup marathon in 1978, and then took part in competitions all round the world.

In 1991, Slovenia gained independence from Yugoslavia so I returned to home. I decided to celebrate this great occasion by swimming the longest river in Slovenia: the Krka. Since then, I’ve swum many solo long distance swims all over the world. In 2007, I fulfilled my life’s ambition to swim the largest, and longest river in the world: the Amazon.

This May I will take on a new challenge: to swim the Colorado. It is an iconic American river and contains a large proportion of the fresh water for the western States. It also flows through the Grand Canyon, one of the seven wonders of the natural world. My swim through the Grand Canyon area is not to achieve any record or endurance feat, rather to raise awareness of the need to conserve fresh clean water. However, it will be a swim in extremely cold conditions (the water will be 8ºc).

It is very difficult for me to pick a favourite place to swim as I have many favourites. Highlights have been my Danube and Paraná river swims, which had some very clean water stretches, and, of course, the Amazon, my greatest challenge to date. There was stunning nature all around the Amazon, however the water was very murky.

Water is my second home and a place where I pursue my dreams and challenges. It is also a place where I find freedom, peace, health, motivation and energy for life. My big river journeys are mostly journeys of the mind performed in the wonderful element of water.

My future plans are to stay connected with water, share my experiences with others and be involved in campaigning for clean water. I’m also planning some new swimming challenges and running my Mediterranean swimming adventure holiday business with my son Borut.

My swimming tip? Water is all around us and we should all swim at least a little. I encourage swimmers to connect with nature  by swimming outdoors. I think swimming is a great way of living, exercising, exploring and finding your own challenges.

Find out more about Martin Strel from www.amazonswim.com You can check out his swimming adventure holidays at www.strelswimming.com

Photos supplied by Martin and Borut Strel