Amazon Swim (Martin Strel)
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DURING FEB 1 - APR 08, 2007 MARTIN STREL SWAM 5,268 KMS (3274 MILES) OF THE AMAZON RIVER! HE DEDICATED THE SWIM TO THE PROTECTION OF THE RAINFOREST.
Thu, April 12 2007

Martin is back on his feet again

After spending the last few days resting, Martin is feeling much better. He was examined by his personal doctors (Dr. Rifat Latifi and Dr. Mateja de Leonni Stanonik) last night who declared him to be in great health for a man who’d spent the last ten weeks swimming in the Amazon.

Although he lost a total of 34 pounds during the swim, his heart rate is back to normal, and although still on the high side, his blood pressure is getting better.

Martin and the team are all now entering that tough stage of mental exhaustion that stems from the transition between expedition life and returning to reality.

On Trail

An expedition is 95% misery and 5% ecstasy. After nearly three months of constant motion in a land far away from home, something strange occurs in the soul of a man. He gets broken. The first symptom is a tired or sick feeling, maybe even some fear and a little helplessness. Loneliness. Then something slowly changes within. The old attachments start to fade and he becomes completely present. He forgets about all the crap that keeps him up at night back home. None of it matters anymore. He’s arrived at the moment when he must make a choice: He can crumble like salt or embrace this new life and harden into steel.

After going home and dealing with all the meaningless details of electricity bills, mowing the grass, mortgage payments, and an unfulfilling job, a period of depression inevitably occurs. Those people back home that can’t understand why he’d leave his cozy existence behind again for three more months to jump at the next opportunity to subject himself to such misery and danger, but they just don’t get it man.


>>Matthew Mohlke