Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Marina Santee.
Voice 2
And I’m Ryan Geertsma. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
Martin Strel walks to the edge of the river. It is raining. But people have still come to watch him. It is early February, 2007 and Strel is 53 years old. He waves to the crowd. He shakes hands with some children. He wears a wetsuit, a swimming suit that covers his whole body. He is calm enough that you may think he is about to go for an easy swim. But Martin Strel is about to begin the longest swim that anyone has ever done. He is going to swim the Amazon River.
Voice 2
Today’s Spotlight is on Martin Strel. Martin Strel holds world records for swimming long distances. But Martin Strel does not look like an athlete. He does not have money to spend on training equipment. He does not make much money from swimming. He swims to teach people about the importance of keeping rivers clean. But he also swims just because he wants to. He swims because he can.
Voice 1
Strel has been swimming long distances since 1978. In 2000, he swam the Danube River through Eastern Europe. In 2002, he swam the Mississippi River, in the United States. Two years later, he swam the Yangtze River in China. This was his longest swim. It was just over 4,000 kilometres. But Martin Strel was not done. He wanted to set a new record for the longest swim ever. He wanted to swim the Amazon River. Strel kept a record of his attempt for the BBC news organization. He wrote:
Voice 3
“Many people ask me why I am doing this. I want to prove to myself that I can achieve more than other people. That I can do the impossible. I want to do something that no one else has ever done. Of course, while doing that I also want to encourage an environmental message.”
Voice 2
The Amazon River was not like any swim Strel had done before. The Amazon River is the largest river in the world. It contains more water than the next eight largest rivers combined. In some places, the river is over 190 kilometres wide.
Voice 1
The river is home to many different animals and beautiful fish. Most are harmless. But, many are not. There are dangerous snakes, insects, crocodiles and deadly piranha fish. A group of piranhas can kill a person. If Strel was attacked, his team would need to get him out of the water quickly. But piranhas were not his only concern.
Voice 2
In the Amazon River, there are insects that carry diseases. The sun was also a problem. It was so hot that Strel suffered second degree burns while swimming. There were also men on the river who would try to steal cameras and equipment from Strel’s team. For part of the swim, guards with guns travelled on boats with the team.
Voice 1
The long swim made Strel very tired. He only slept about four hours each night. He had to eat a lot of food to have enough energy to swim. In fact, he ate eight thousand calories every day – that is four times more than a normal person should eat. There was another way that Strel’s diet was different from most athletes. He would drink a bottle of wine every day. He says it helped him stay calm. He told writer Gregory Mone:
Voice 3
“I would stay in the water for six hours. Then I would get in the boat to eat and drink for half an hour. After lunch I needed two glasses of red wine. After dinner too. And I drank maybe one or two glasses of beer each day. Beer was good for my lips, to wash my mouth of all the mud in the water. Then I would go in again and swim.”
Voice 2
The swim was dangerous and very tiring. But the biggest problem was having nothing to do. Strel was bored. Day after day he swam. He could not listen to music or talk to friends. In an interview with Dominic Bliss, Strel explained how he deals with being bored while swimming.
Voice 3
“I have to talk to myself. I tell myself stories about my life, my family, my team. I count my arm movements. Sometimes I see things that are not there. Sometimes I sleep for a few minutes while I swim. Sometimes I talk to God. Maybe God helps me.”
Voice 1
Strel swam on the Amazon River for 66 days. He swam for ten hours every day. He swam 5268 kilometres. And on April 7 2007, Martin Strel reached the city of Belem, Brazil. There, his support team pulled him from the water and brought him to the hospital. It would take him over six months to recover. He told news writer Dan Silkstone:
Voice 3
“I am very tired. It is my time to rest.”
Voice 2
He spent the next few days resting in a hotel, eating and watching television. When Silkstone asked Strel’s son if Strel had any hobbies, he said:
Voice 4
“Not really. But he does like to swim in the hotel pool.”
Voice 1
Strel’s swim up the Amazon River was amazing. He set a world record for long distance swimming. He got into the river and swam. Not just one day. But day after day after day. Did he change the world? No. But what he did was make people think about what is possible. He says:
Voice 3
“I am a normal man, a common man who just has higher goals than usual. I want to show everyone around the world that if you set a goal that is a little higher, you have to try to achieve it. If you keep working and do not stop, you will come to the end. This could be for whatever you want. I chose to swim the Amazon. The Amazon River is still very clean. Local people use it as a natural resource and I think the Amazon should stay clean forever. I have seen some loss of the forest, but it is not going to be good if we keep cutting down more trees. I want to pass this message to everybody: Do not look only for business and for money when you come close to nature.”
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