A National Hero
appearing in his native Slovenian films, judging national beauty contests,
meeting with heads of state and
the endless free swims, saunas and meals...
"It's hard to overestimate the physical toll Strel's swims take on his body."
On the rivers he swam:
...the Mississippi - which flows so thick with agricultural runoff and heavy metals... (3885 km/2414 mi: 68 days)
"The Yangtze almost killed me. Too much dangers and chemicals. Almost destroyed liver. It was black by end of swim. I swim next to dead bodies - human bodies - every day. Men facedown, women breast up." (third longest river - 4003 km/2487 mi: 51 days - 10 hours a day)
He talked aloud to the Amazon's animals throughout the swim and was escorted nearly every day by a cadre of the river's endangered pink dolphins. (5268 km/3273 mi:66 days)
Did I mention he drinks 2 bottles of wine - made from his own grapes?
(from article, Glorious Bastards, Outside magazine)
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