Martin Strel (; born 1 October 1954), is a

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

n long-distance swimmer, one of the most elite endurance athletes best known for swimming the entire length of various rivers. Strel holds successive

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for swimming the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...

river, the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

, the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...

, and the Amazon River. His motto is "swimming for peace, friendship and clean waters."

Swimming history

Strel was born in the town of Mokronog, in the

n region of

Lower Carniola Lower Carniola ( sl, Dolenjska; german: Unterkrain) is a traditional region in Slovenia, the southeastern part of the historical Carniola region. Geography Lower Carniola is delineated by the Ljubljana Basin with the city of Ljubljana to the n ...

, then part of the

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

. Strel's first two river swims were the Krka river (105 kilometres) in his homeland, in 28 hours in 1992, and the boundary

Kolpa The Kupa () or Kolpa ( or ; from la, Colapis in Roman times; hu, Kulpa) river, a right tributary of the Sava, forms a natural border between north-west Croatia and southeast Slovenia. It is long, with its border part having a length of and th ...

river (), in 16 hours in 1993. In 2000, he swam the

Danube River The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

() and achieved the world long distance swimming record () in 58 days. In July 2001, he achieved one more world record — of non-stop swimming in Danube within 84 hours and 10 minutes. He lost 40 pounds of weight. In 2002, he swam the entire

() in 68 days. In 2003, he swam the Argentine Paraná River (). On 10 June 2004, Martin started swimming down the

(, the longest river in Asia, the third longest in the world) in China. He reached

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

in 40 days on 30 July 2004, one day before planned. Strel swam the Amazon River, commencing on 1 February 2007, finishing 66 days later on 7 April 2007. This was a record-breaking distance of , longer than the width of the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. He had escort boats that were prepared to pour blood into the river to distract meat-eating fish such as

piranha A piranha or piraña (, , or ; or , ) is one of a number of freshwater fish in the family Serrasalmidae, or the subfamily Serrasalminae within the tetra family, Characidae in order Characiformes. These fish inhabit South American rivers, fl ...

s. In 2007, the

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest ...

had been proposed as his next river, but Strel said, "I am not going to do the Nile. It's long but not challenging enough, it is just a small creek. The Amazon is much more mighty." He plans to swim across

Lake Arenal Lake Arenal ( es, Lago Arenal) is a lake which is situated in the northern highlands of Costa Rica. It is currently the largest lake in Costa Rica at . Its depth varies between 30 and 60 meters (100–200 feet) seasonally. The town of Are ...

on 29 September 2010 as part of his visit to an environmentalist international film festival in Costa Rica. He plans to swim about 6 kilometres from shore and then back to his starting point. In June 2011 Strel completed his Colorado River Swim challenge for the documentary ''

Stan Lee's Superhumans ''Stan Lee's Superhumans'' is a documentary television series that debuted from August 5, 2010 to September 17, 2014 on History. It is hosted by Marvel comic book superhero creator Stan Lee and follows contortionist Daniel Browning Smith, "th ...

'' More about the swim can be found at
Colorado Swim 2011
Achievements by year: *2008: Sognefjord, Norway; Loch Ness, UK *2009: Doha, Qatar; River Thames, UK; River Cam, UK *2010: Grand Canyon, Arizona, US; Lake Mead, Nevada/Arizona, US *2011: Lake Ontario, Canada; Lake Simcoe, Canada; Lake Arenal, Costa Rica; San Juan River, Costa Rica *2012: Saguaro Lake, Arizona, US; Canyon Lake, Arizona, US; Apache Lake, Arizona, US Theodore Roosevelt Lake, Arizona, US *2013: Lake Powell, Arizona/Utah, US; Robben Island, South Africa *2014: Bondi Beach, Australia; Shelly Beach, Australia *2015: Lake Pleasant, Arizona, US; Tennessee River, Tennessee, US *2016: Rocky Point, Mexico; Alkhobar (Saudi Arabia) – Manamma (Bahrain) *2017: Manhattan, New York, US; Lake Wörth, Austria *2018: Alcatraz – Golden Gate Bridge, US *2019: Farallon Islands, California, US *2020: San Diego River, California, US *2021: Mura River, Slovenia

''Big River Man''

Strel was the subject and star of a feature documentary entitled '' Big River Man'' directed by the acclaimed art-house director John Maringouin. The film, which won a Best Cinematography prize at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, was critically praised for its blend of comedy and drama. The film chronicled Strel's 3,300 mile historic swim of the Amazon River.

''Strel Swimming Adventures''

In 2010, Martin Strel and his son Borut Strel founded a company that offer
swimming adventure holidays
in the Mediterranean and at Lake Powell, Arizona. They currently offer swimming adventure holiday tours at

Lake Powell Lake Powell is an artificial reservoir on the Colorado River in Utah and Arizona, United States. It is a major vacation destination visited by approximately two million people every year. It is the second largest artificial reservoir by maximum ...

, Arizona, in Slovenia ( Lake Bled,

Lake Bohinj Lake Bohinj ( sl, Bohinjsko jezero, german: Wocheiner See), covering , is the largest permanent lake in Slovenia. It is located within the Bohinj Valley of the Julian Alps, in the northwestern Upper Carniola region, and part of Triglav National Par ...

, and the

Soča The Soča ( in Slovene) or Isonzo ( in Italian; other names fur, Lusinç, german: Sontig, la, Aesontius or ') is a long river that flows through western Slovenia () and northeastern Italy (). An Alpine river in character, its source lies i ...

River), on

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Dalmatian coast Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

swimming from island to island, in

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

exploring Adriatic fjords and coves, and cruising

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. Strel takes part in some trips.

Global Center for Advanced Studies

In 2013, Martin Strel joined the faculty of The Global Center for Advanced Studies in its newly formed Institute of Adventure Studies.

References

External links

Strel's official siteThe Amazon Swim Project siteStrel Swimming Adventure Holidays siteDiary of Amazon swim at BBC news
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strel, Martin 1954 births Living people Male long-distance swimmers Slovenian male swimmers People from the Municipality of Mokronog-Trebelno 20th-century Slovenian people 21st-century Slovenian people