Dykstra: Swimming With Aqua America

We learn incredibly complex math equations and ponder how anybody could have the time or curiosity to discover them. We see videos of men lifting cars and dragging tractor trailers and wonder how anybody could have the strength or determination to pull it off, literally. Adrenalin? I'd say so.

Just days ago, Martin Strel succeeded in swimming the length of the entire Amazon River. The journey lasted 65 days until it ended near Belem, Brazil. Strel averaged about 50 miles a day, almost twice as long as the length of a marathon. The Slovenian battled to avoid the vicious piranhas, the bloodsucking toothpick fish and the bull sharks that call the Amazon River home.

He had to be pulled out of the water on more than one occasion because of over-exhaustion and delirium. Despite doctors' orders not to swim, Strel insisted upon night swimming to finish the course. Strel developed second-degree burns on his body from the friction of the wetsuit against his skin. The arduous voyage knocked 26 pounds off his figure, although I do not recommend this diet!

This is not the first time Martin Strel has broken a world record. In 2000, he swam the length of the Danube River in Europe (1,866 miles). He went on to break that record in 2002 when he swam 2,360 miles down the Mississippi River. As if that wasn't enough! Another two years later, Strel decided he would go for another dip, and swam 2,487 miles along the Yangtze River in China.

Some people may consider the Slovenian crazy, but me? I consider him a warrior. He promises he is not done getting wet, but asserts he will not swim in the notorious Nile River, as he called it "not challenging enough, it is just a small creek." Perhaps if the Nile surged red blood, it would be more his style.