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

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

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 British reference book published annually, list ...

for swimming the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

river, the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

, the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

, 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 ( ; ) is a traditional region in Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south an ...

, then part of the

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

. Strel's first two river swims were the Krka river (105 kilometres) in his homeland, in 28 hours in 1992, and the boundary Kolpa river (), in 16 hours in 1993. In 2000, he swam the

Danube River The Danube ( ; see also other names) is the second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest south into the Black Sea. A large and historically important riv ...

() 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 The Paraná River ( ; ; ) is a river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina for some ."Parana River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. ...

(). On 10 June 2004, Martin started swimming down the

(, the longest river in Asia, the third longest in the world) in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. He reached

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

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 borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. He had escort boats that were prepared to pour blood into the river to distract meat-eating fish such as piranhas. In 2007, the

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

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 on 29 September 2010 as part of his visit to an environmentalist international film festival in

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

. 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'' 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 the "World Cinema Cinematography Award: Documentary" at the 2009

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

, 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 a 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 holds of water when full, second in the United States to only the ...

, Arizona, in Slovenia ( Lake Bled, Lake Bohinj, and the Soča River), on

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

's Dalmatian coast swimming from island to island, in

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

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 east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. 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