Jaunted

Swimming

Love Those Toothpick Fish

February 2, 2007 at 9:56 AM | 0 Comments

Some people like to run around the world, but now a new, perhaps crazier guy is hitting the headlines. Slovenian Martin Strel loves to swim. He really loves to swim.

Rivers are his favorite territory. Winning records for swimming the length of the Mississippi, Danube and the Yangtze (his previous longest success, at 2,487 miles), Strel is now ready to tackle the Amazon. Starting in Atalaya in Peru and heading down to Belem in Brazil, Strel plans to swim 3,375 miles. Possible problems? Well, a few of the native lifeforms:

The world's second longest river is home to piranha fish, crocodiles, bull sharks, poisonous freshwater stingrays and the toothpick fish, or candiru.

Nice. Fancy swimming along with him? Or prefer your adventure travel in a slightly safer form? Reminder: the candiru is the fish that can swim into your nether bits.

Related Stories:
· Fish Man to Swim Amazon [Telegraph UK]
· Candirú [Wikipedia]
· Run Manfred Run! [Jaunted]