Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

The Bodensee is a lake on the Rhine whose shores straddle the northern foot of the Alps and touch Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

There are three recognized crossings of the lake:

1. 64 km lengthwise crossing (Bodensee-Längsquerungen) between Bodmann, Germany and Bregenz, Austria distance 64 km
2. 12 km widthwise crossing (Bodensee-Breitenquerungen) between Friedrichshafen, Germany and Romanshorn, Switzerland
3. 38 km triangular crossing (Bodensee-Dreiländerquerungen) between Germany, Switzerland and Austria

There have been three individuals in history who have crossed Bodensee in the lengthwise direction:

1. Christof Wandratsch (Germany), 20 hours 41 minutes on 22 July 2013 in 23°C water
2. Bruno Baumgartner (Switzerland), 24 hours 20 minutes on 30 August 2013 in 19°C water
3. Hamza Bakircioglu (Turkey), 30 hours 45 minutes on 17 July 2016 in 21°C

Wandratsch, who has proven himself across the English Channel, in professional marathon swims, in FINA competitions, in ice swimming competitions, as a race director, as an open water swimming ambassador, and in solo swims, is now officially and unofficially the King of the Bodensee.

Not only does he hold the 64 km Bodensee-Längsquerungen crossing record (20 hours 41 minutes), but he now holds the 38 km Bodensee-Dreiländerquerungen crossing record (8 hours 43 minutes) and the 12 km Bodensee-Breitenquerungen crossing record (2 hours 28 minutes).

It is the first time in recent history since American Penny Dean set both the single- and double-crossings of the Catalina Channel that one individual has held all the major records in one body of water.

38 km Bodensee-Dreiländerquerungen Crossings
1. Christof Wandratsch (Germany) 8 hours 43 minutes on 24 July 2016 in 22°C (32.07 km distance swum)
2. Nathalie Pohl (Germany) 9 hours 19 minutes on 1 July 2016 in 21°C (33.40 km)
3. Sabine Croci (Germany) 12 hours 48 minutes on 31 July 2014 in 20°C (34.95 km)
4. Ulrich Vormbrock (Germany) in 14 hours 16 minutes on 13 August 2015 in 26°C (34.52 km )
5. Mirjam Sound (Germany) in 14 hours 37 minutes on 28 July 2014 in 19°C (34.82 km)
6. Michael Schumann (Germany) in 15 hours 32 minutes on 7 August 2015 in 24°C (35.25 km)

36 km Bodensee Triple-Breitenquerung Crossing
1. Katie Benoit (U.S.A.), 11 hours 40 minutes on 30 August 2014 in 19°C water (34.43 km distance swum)

12 km Bodensee-Breitenquerungen Crossings
1. Christof Wandratsch (Germany) 2 hours 28 minutes on 21 June 2015 in 19°C (direction: Romanshorn-FN)
2. Axel Ehrhardt (Germany) in 2 hours 48 minutes on 4 July 2015 in 26°C (FN-Romanshorn)
3. Nathalie Pohl (Germany) in 2 hours 50 minutes on 26 June 2014 in 21°C (FN-Romanshorn)
4. Anna DeLozier (U.S.A.) in 3 hours 5 minutes on 23 June 2016 in 21° C (FN-Romanshorn)
5. Mäx Beer (Austria) in 3 hours 20 minutes on 30 August 2014 in 17°C (FN-Romanshorn)
6. Katie Benoit (U.S.A.) in 3 hours 23 minutes on 30 August 2014 in 19°C (FN-Romanshorn)
7. Jürgen Rechberger (Germany) in 3 hours 35 minutes on 22 August 2015 in 22°C (FN-Romanshorn)
8. Hamza Bakircioglu (Turkey) in 3 hours 37 minutes on 10 June 2016 in 18°C (FN-Romanshorn)
9. Katie Benoit (U.S.A.) in 3 hours 52 minutes on 30 August 2014 in 19°C (Romanshorn-FN)
10. Stefan Jung (Germany) in 4 hours 14 minutes on 19 July 2014 in 23°C (FN-Romanshorn)
11. Katie Benoit (U.S.A.) in 4 hours 22 minutes on 30 August 2014 in 19°C (FN-Romanshorn)
12. Mirjam Sound (Germany in 4 hours 30 minutes on 4 July 2015 in 27°C (Romanshorn-FN)
13. Stefan Jung (Germany) in 4 hours 31 minutes on 28 June 2015 in 21°C (FN-Romanshorn)
14. Jacqueline Kempfer (Germany) in 4 hours 32 minutes on 25 August 2014 in 19°C (Romanshorn-FN)
15. Meik Kotwitz (Germany) in 4 hours 35 minutes on 17 July 2014 in 22°C (FN-Romanshorn)
16. Patrick Raguse (Germany) in 4 hours 36 minutes on 12 August 2014 in 23°C (Romanshorn-FN)
17. Patrick Hotz (Germany) in 4 hours 48 minutes on 6 September 2015 in 20°C (Romanshorn-FN)
18. Peggy Henning (Germany) in 4 hours 52 minutes on 12 September 2015 in 20°C (FN-Romanshorn)
19. Bruno “ORCA” Dobelmann (Germany) in 4 hours 58 minutes on 24 May 2012 in 16°C (FN-Romanshorn)
20. Wigald Boning (Germany) in 7 hours 24 minutes on 16 July 2014 in 21°C (FN-Romanshorn)

For more information on Bodensee crossings, visit here.

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