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| Martin Strel illustrates the route for his planned "Strel World Swim" at Brookfield Property Partners' site at North Cove Marina in Downtown Manhattan |
NEW YORK (AP) — Martin Strel swims
with a knife strapped to his right leg — in case he encounters sharks,
"vampire" fish and other deadly marine life in the world's wildest
waters.
On Thursday, the 60-year-old
marathon swimmer announced the toughest feat of his life: A 10,000-mile, around-the-world
voyage on water to draw public attention to increasing aquatic pollution.
"And for peace and love,"
Strel added in his native Slovenian language.
He will circle the globe in about
450 days, starting in Long Beach, California, on March 22 and passing through
oceans, rivers, canals and other bodies of water in more than 100 countries. He
will swim about 5 to 12 hours each day, depending on the weather and changing
currents. An escort boat will offer emergency support and space for small
breaks.
Strel’s nickname is “Big River Man"
because he has swum the entire length of five rivers — the piranha-infested
Amazon, the Danube in Eastern Europe, China's Yangtze, the Parana in South
America, and the Mississippi.
A native of Slovenia, a small nation
between Italy, Austria and Croatia, Strel now lives in Phoenix.
He is still finalizing details of
his next big, multimillion dollar adventure, which will include the Panama and
Suez canals, the English Channel, the Amazon again as well as the Atlantic and
Pacific oceans and the Red Sea.
Costs, including overnight
accommodations, plus food and other supplies, will largely be organized by the
Arizona-based TDG global marketing and branding firm.
Strel will not be alone in the
water. He welcomes anyone who is interested to join him for stretches of the
route, including the president of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, who is a fine swimmer.
"We'll all be discussing ecology — like how to eliminate plastics from
water."
Strel said the most dangerous fish
on the planet is the tiny candiru in South America that bores into every human
cavity, from the mouth to the ears and nose, growing by feeding on human flesh
and blood.
By comparison, he said with a laugh,
blood-thirsty piranhas "are OK" — but partially because those on the
support boat poured buckets of blood into the Amazon to draw the fish away
after they attacked him.
As for sharks, Strel said they have
left him alone as long as he swam in the same direction, without confronting
them. "I touch them and it's 'OK! I'm your friend."
