Europe (Slovenia) 1992, Krka, 105 km 28 hrs - After Slovenia’s independence, Martin decided to swim the length of the Krka river from source to estuary, thus making his comeback to professional marathon swimming.
Europe (Slovenia) 1993, Kolpa, 62 km 16 hrs - swimming for a clean and green Kolpa river.
Asia (China) 1993, Wuhan-Yangtze (Blue River), China, 7.2 km 46 min, 8 s - first place. A great victory in the race across the great Blue River. 76 contestants took part.
Europe (Italy) 1994, Lignano-Ravenna, 162.5 km 55 hrs, 11 min - new world distance record in uninterrupted ocean swimming.
Europe (Italy-Croatia) 1995, Caorle-Umag, 56 km 18 hrs, 28 min - beats Veljko RogosiÄ’s record (18h, 49min).
Europe (Slovenia) 1996, Ljubljana 24 hrs in swimming pool, covered 78 km.
Europe (Switzerland) 1996, Zurich 12 hrs in swimming pool, covered 41.2 km, absolute victory.
Europe (Italy-Slovenia) 1996, Venice-Portorose, 100 km 41 hrs, 11 min, new best time on this route.
Europe (England-France) 1997, English Channel, 35.2 km 16 hrs, 28 min, 5 s - Martin swam 61 km in strong currents, unable to keep in a straight line. The water temperature was 14 degrees Celsius.
Africa - Europe 1997, Africa-Europe, 78 km 29 hrs, 36 min, 57 s - The first to swim from Africe to Europe. 7 swimmers have attempted this before, all failed. Martin swam without a wetsuit under FINE supervision with 7 international judges.
Europe (Switzerland) 1998, Zürich 12 hrs in swimming pool, covered 43 km, absolute victory.
Europe (Italy) 1998, Ponce-Terracina, 53 km interrupted after 23hrs.
Europe (Italy) 1998, Ligurian coast Uninterrupted swimming for the World Wide Fund for Nature.
Europe (Slovenia) 1998, Mura river, 36 km 3 hrs, 20 min
Europe (Slovenia) 1998, Ljubljanica river, 25 km 5 hrs, 45 min
Europe (Slovenia-Italy) 1999, Koper-Grado-Venice, 100 km 36 hrs, 30 min - new best time and European record.
Europe (Italy) 1999, lake Garda, 65 km 21 hrs, 27 min, 35 s - new best time.
The Danube river (Europe) 25 June - 23 August 2000, 3004 km, 58 days A new world distance record. Martin Strel goes down in the Guinness Book of Records. He was the first to swim the Danube from source to estuary.
The Danube river (Europe) July 2001, 504.5 km non-stop, 84 hrs 10 min Martin Strel swam from Melk (Austria) to Paks (Hungary) uninterrupted and that was a new world record in non-stop swimming achieved on the Danube in July 2001. Martin first beat the record by Argentinian Ricardo Hoffman (481,5km, 84hrs 37min), then proceeded to swim on, finishing at 504.5 km, after 84 hrs 10 min.
The Mississippi river (USA) 4 July - 9 September 2002, 3797 km, 68 days Martin swam the entire length of the Mississippi in the USA, a length of 3,797 km in 68 days. The project was entitled Eye to Eye. This is the absolute record in marathon swimming and Martin was the first to swim the river from source to estuary. His achievement has been recognised by the Guinness Book of Records. U.S. Congress passed a special resolution honouring Martin’s achievemnents. Video clip Radio interviews: July 2002 (Minnesota Public Radio, USA) Link to MP3 File: PLAY! Sept 2002 (National Public Radio, USA) Link to MP3 File: PLAY!
The Parana river (Argentina) November 15 – Dec 8, 2003, 1930 km, 24 days Martin made it in all the way from Iguazzu Falls to the center of Buenos Aires in the Rio de La Plata. Becoming the first man to have swam the entire 1200 miles of this tricky South American river. He was swimming from from dawn to dust and averaged over 80 kms per day. Video clip
The Yangtze River (China) June 10 – July 30, 2004, 4003 km, 51 days In 51 days of struggling in the muddy China river Martin Strel surpassed his record from the Mississippi. This project was the most demanding to date in all respects. A new Guinness Record has been broken. This is the longest distance ever swam in history. The project has been covered by CCTV 9 channel. Video clip
Vltava, Czech republic 7 days, June 2005, 364 km Swimming in Czech Republic was mainly a promotional project which, besides swimming for peace, friendship and clean waters, has symbolized friendship between Slovenia and Czech Republic. Special impact was given to the project by Pavel Bem, Mayor of the Czech Republic capital city Prague who was accompanying Martin on the last kilometre before Prague.
Drava - (Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia) June 2006, 450 km Martin swam 450 kms of the river Drava in 7 days from Austrian Lienz to Croatian Varazdin.
The Amazon River (South America) February 1 - April 07, 2007, 5268 kms, 66 days Martin swam the longest and the most dangerous river on Earth, the Amazon. People hardly believe what he has done. Both book and film are produced about the project. Book is called: The Man Who Swam the Amazon and the film Big River Man. Also a new long-distance swim Guinness record is broken. Project website: www.amazonswim.com
