Bartłomiej Kubkowski (30, Poland, IISA bio here, @b.kubkowski, @wavemarketing.pro) loves the water: cold water, rough water, sea water with snow falling upon him, pool water.
Tomorrow, the Polish adventurer from Giżycko, Poland will set off on his fourth attempt of a 170 km assisted crossing of the Baltic Sea as a charity swim for the Cancer Fighters Foundation (@fundacja_cancerfighters).
He describes his Ultra Baltic Swim 4.0, “Despite three extreme attempts and an awareness of how ruthless the Baltic can be, I return with a great amount of experience, with great humility and respect for the element. I believe in the goal I chose for myself a few years ago. I will do everything so that [tomorrow], I will be best prepared in my life.
Tomorrow night we set off swimming from Sweden to Poland 170 km. This is my fourth attempt, which I approach with respect, humility, and gratitude for these wonderful four years of the most beautiful adventure of my life. I promise to give my all and fight until the very end to meet you on our Polish soil.
The moment I set off, as every year, we are opening a fundraiser for the bravest warriors from Cancer Fighters which is my greatest motivation. Thanks to you, we break this most important record every year, and I believe that this time too, you will help us close the fundraiser for these wonderful little ones.
I wouldn’t be able to complete this project without my sponsors and partners. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your trust and for being with me every step of the way.”
Team Kubkowski
He has benefitted from his three previous attempts and the continued support of mental coach Rafał Mazur, nutritionist Damian Wiatrowski, trainer Bartosz Paszkowski, physical therapist Andrzej Tryniszewski, and support crew members Przemysław Zawalich, Maksymilian Wysocki, Stanisław Klimaszewski, and Wojciech Rząsa. It will be his fourth attempt at crossing the Baltic Sea.
Ultra Baltic Swim History
In 2021, he swam 115 km from Kołobrzeg, Sweden en route to Ystad, Poland on his first 170 km Baltic Sea attempt, but his wetsuit and neoprene cap crossing was aborted after 32 hours 30 minutes. In 2022, he swam 116.897 km in his second attempt, using with a swim streamer while he raised 100,000 zloty for the Cancer Fighters Foundation, but his swim was aborted after 40 hours. In August 2023, he swam 130 km in 40 hours – despite snow falling during the mid-summer attempt – before he aborted the swim from Kåseberga, Sweden to Kołobrzeg, Poland, raising 300,000 zloty (€67,000) for the children’s cancer treatment.
He has also trained hard and diligently for his attempt; it was simply that Mother Nature had the upper hand.
But this year on January 18th, he upped his game and swam 103.58 km in 24 hours in a 25m pool, an average pace of 1:23 per 100 meters (excluding breaks) to set a world record by 758 meters.
He is ready.
For more information and updates from the Baltic Sea, visit his website ultrabalticswim.pl and Instagram @b.kubkowski.
In the wake of his previous attempts and on the heels of fellow Polish swimmer Karolina Szczepaniak swimming 140 km over 60 hours this week in her first attempt at crossing the Baltic Sea from Poland to the Swedish island of Öland, the hopes was high for Kubkowski.
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