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TRAVELLER
It’s an experience that is “always a surprise”
because of the extreme cold
and this winter they’re helping to organise the Bled
Winter Swimming Cup in February, a fairly new
event where around 100 participants will race short
distances (25-50m) in water of around 5°C. Bled also
hosted the World Winter Swimming Championships
in 2010, welcoming 790 professional swimmers from
countries including Latvia and Finland, but the 2012
event will invite amateurs to take part.
Strel himself was an international competitive
swimmer in his youth, but abandoned the sport while
his children were growing up, earning a living as a
guitar teacher. He then re-emerged in his late 30s as
a long-distance river swimmer, beginning by tackling
the Slovenian river Krka in 1992. Since then, he’s
never looked back. “‘I enjoy being on land,” he tells me
in heavily accented English, “but water is my second
home and a place to pursue my challenges.”
And what challenges they are – not least the mental
ones. Describing his mind as a “busy office” when
he swims, he passes the long hours in the water by
talking to the river wildlife, imagining stories and even
sleeping for a few minutes at a time – a skill which
has allowed him to gain the world record for non-stop
swimming: an incredible 84 hours. “‘I spoke with
myself in the water a lot,” he says of the Amazonian
swim, “and my team on the escort boat often thought
I was a little crazy - but this is just who I am and it
keeps me going.”
His teammight be forgiven for their suspicion.
Weighing in at over 100kg, Strel drank a bottle
of Cvicek, a light Slovenian wine, each day while
swimming the Amazon and he carries a crystal
pendulum, which he uses to measure the “energy” of
places, as well as the drinkability of bottled water.
Such practises are unorthodox, but they evidently
work. It’s by no means unusual for Strel to train twice
a day for several hours each time - and not just in the
pool. The day before our swim, he drives us into the
mountains to sample another of his favourite pursuits.
With its picturesque, rolling hills and forests,
Lake Bled’s surrounding countryside is a wonderful
destination for many winter activities, including
snowshoeing and Nordic walking (not to mention for
a hearty meal and mulled wine after a day’s exertions).
But Strel is taking me cross-country skiing. “Excellent
sport,” he proclaims from behind the wheel, as we
climb the steep road to Pokljuka, a world-class centre
for the sport. “Very similar to swimming.”
When we arrive, it becomes clear just how similar
the sports are: skiing also exercises the whole
body while lending most of its practitioners a rare
gracefulness. Skiers in bright green suits zip past,
nonchalantly wielding fibreglass poles. The sport is
notoriously gruelling, but they appear to be expending
no effort whatsoever.
It’s at this point that I’m handed a small bottle
containing a clear liquid. “You drink,” says Strel, in
a manner that is more of an order than a request.
Upon opening, the fumes indicate that this is a
potent schnapps rather than water, but at 1,300m,
it’s certainly chilly, so I take a warming swig. The
classic style – skiing along tracks cut into the snow – is
straightforward and I pick it up quickly. But later on,
when Strel is showing me the free-range (and much
cooler looking) skating style, things become slightly
more complicated. Despite my best efforts,
With a lone swan
on an earlymorning
dip in Lake Bled’s lido
Our writer, Jonathan
Knott,
centre
, gets a
bit of praise from
veteran winter
swimmers Borut,
left
,
and his father, Martin
Strel,
right
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