Imagine eating a bunch of gel packs, energy bars, müesli bars, tablets with mineral salts, Vespa, and grilled sausages, and drinking coffee, energy drinks, and Coca Cola – while swimming.

However, when your swim takes 38 hours in total, then the chosen marathon swimming buffet makes more sense.

54-year-old Henry Stokholm started at 8:25 am from Kolobrzeg on the mainland of Poland on September 15th 2023, swam through the night, sunrise, and the next morning, afternoon, and evening as he finished in 10:25 pm on the island of swam 94.2 km to the island of Bornholm in Denmark. He swam 38 hours with the water temperature hovering between 18.2 – 20.3°C while he faced currents with his escort crew of three. The swim was a charity swim to raise money for the work of Red Barnet, the Danish branch of Save the Children.

Details of his cross-border swim, his humble nature, and his profound appreciation for his escort crew and the opportunities to swim are described in an interview by Leszek Naziemiec [read here].

Stokholm’s story is fascinating.

But his backstory was bound to me given his open water swimming pedigree:

• 2018: he won 21 km Vidöstern Simmet across Lake Vidöstern in Småland, Sweden in 6 hours 55 minutes
• 2019: he won the 21 km Vidöstern Simmet in 6 hours 27 minutes
• 2021: he won the 21 km Vidöstern Simmet in 7 hours 27 minutes
• 2021: In tandem with Per Fossette Møller, he crossed the 22 km Storebælt between Funen and Zealand in Denmark
• 2020: he competed in the Danish Ice Swimming Championships
• 2021: he swam 45 km from Fornæs fyr to Anholt, Denmark in 16 hours 45 minutes
• 2022: he completed an Ice Kilometer in 14 minutes 28.50 seconds in 3.20°C water at the IISA Denmark World Cup
• 2022: he won 6 silver medals at the IISA 4th World Championship (1000m, 500m, 250m, 50m freestyles + 50m backstroke)
• 2022: he swam the 42 km Viking two-way edition of the Vidöstern Simmet in 14 hours 58 minutes
• 2022: he swam the night edition of the 21 km Vidöstern Simmet 
• 2023: he completed the 40 km DK Tribal Belt Challenge One-Day from 4 am to 1 am in 14 hours
• 2023: he swam a 58 km workout in two days in the Gudenåen river in Denmark in cold weather
• 2022: he completed an Ice Kilometer at the Amsterdam Ice Swim in 15 minutes 33.17 seconds in 1.90°C water and -10.40°C air
• 2023: he completed an Ice Kilometer at the IISA 5th World Championship in 14 minutes 36.14 seconds in 3.70°C water
• 2023: he completed an Ice Mile in 2.87°C water and -3.10°C air temperatures in Esbjerg, Denmark in 27 minutes 4 seconds
• 2023: he swam 94.2 km in 38 hours across the Baltic Sea from Kolobrzeg, Poland to the island of Bornholm, Denmark

© 2024 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

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