Courtesy of Canah along the Danube River, Germany.
Romanian Avram Iancu continues on his stage swim of 2,860 km, forecasted to last 60 days, along the Danube River through Europe.
The 41-year-old librarian from Petrosani, Transylvania started his stage swim from Donaueschingen in the Black Forest in Germany. He is now heading into Day 65 as each day is a dynamically different replication of the day before.
Day 63 on August 21st
Today has been the first day after Iancu passed the first dam located at the Iron Gates, a gorge on the Danube River, forming part of the boundary between Romania and Serbia. Although he was hoping that the water will start flowing again, he was disappointed to discover the river extremely buffeting him from the front, but he managed to swim a total of 21 km, reaching the 921 km milestone.
He also passed an important town in Romania, Drobeta-Turnu-Severin, where the mayor welcomed him together with more followers and media. “I was pleasantly surprised to swim by a boat I took for a tour on the Danube together with my wife 15 years earlier, bringing back fond memories.”
The distance traversed on the Danube from Day 1 to Day 63: 1,939 km
The distance remaining to be covered on the Danube: 921 km
Day 64 on August 22nd
Iancu swam 27 km today in three stages, arriving at the 894 km milestone. “Passing the 900 km milestone makes such a big difference for my morale. I now have 800+ km to swim, not 900+,” he said.
During the first 8 km he enjoyed nice weather, but the wind started blowing again and the waves returned. The second stage, after lunch, was 10 km long. The third was 6 km when he felt in excellent shape for these last kilometers of the day. “I am enjoying a calm feeling on the inside as I am slowly realizing I am reaching the last dam on the Danube in around 30 km. It is the 65th dam on the river and my body is fully adapted to the environment and all the effort I put it through. The daily massages help a great deal as well. I am feeling like a swimming machine now. I am very lucky that my support team is so nice as well – they keep making jokes and keeping me entertained which is absolutely fantastic.”
As a librarian, Iancu always hoped that his journey will inspire more people to read more books and he was pleasantly surprised today that from the hundreds of messages he receives, a lady made him a poem. “It made me tear up seeing that people are feeling so inspired by what I am doing.”
The distance traversed on the Danube from Day 1 to Day 64: 1,968 km
The distance remaining to be covered on the Danube: 892 km
A report on his stage swims between Days 1-9 is posted here.
A report on his stage swims between Days 10-13 is posted here.
A report on his stage swim on Day 14 is posted here.
A report on his stage swims between Days 15-16 is posted here.
A report on his stage swim on Day 17 is posted here.
A report on his stage swim on Day 18 is posted here.
A report on his stage swims on Day 19-20 is posted here.
A report on his stage swims between Days 21-23 is posted here.
A report on his stage swims between Days 24-27 is posted here.
A report on his stage swim on Day 28 is posted here.
A report on his stage swims between Days 29-32 is posted here.
A report on his stage swims between Days 33-35 is posted here.
A report on his stage swims between Days 36-41 is posted here.
A report on his stage swims between Day 41-44 is posted here.
A report on his stage swims between Days 52-54 is posted here.
A report of his stage swims between Days 55-58 is posted here.
A report of his stage swims on Day 59 is posted here.
A report of his stage swims on Day 60-62 is posted here.
To follow Iancu on Facebook, visit here.
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