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Librarian Avram Iancu of Petrosani, who has recently become the first Romanian to swim across the Bristol Channel, told AGERPRES on Friday that his success took place under harsh circumstances caused by very strong currents.
"The conditions were very tough, with some very strong currents. The water temperature was between 16 and 17 degrees Celsius, 2 degrees colder than in the English Channel. The air temperature was between 18 and 23 degrees Celsius," said Iancu.
Although the straight line distance between the towns of Glenthorne and Porthcawl, between which Iancu swam, is about 25 kilometres, Iancu had to traverse about 40 kilometres, carried on by the currents. He had to swim contiuously for 10 hours and 45 minutes. Regarding the distance covered, the straight-line distance will be officially certified, the swimmer said.
Iancu is expected back to Romania this evening at the Henri Coanda Airport in Bucharest on a Tarom flight, which is scheduled to arrive at 20:10hrs, EEST. There, he will be welcomed by family and friends.
Iancu became the first Romanian to swim across the Bristol Channe in the UK after accomplishing this feat on Thursday, July 21.
"Two months ago I was in hospital, admitted through the emergency department, and today [Thursday] I swam from England to Wales, crossing the Bristol Channel. With this performance I am honoured to become the first Romanian to cross the famous channel, which has particularly strong sea currents. I am also honoured to notice that this crossing made the hearts of Romanians in Wales and England resonate with this Romanian action. I want to thank everyone for their involvement and especially the approximately 50 of Romanians who waited for me at the end. I am very happy to notice that among them was representative of the Romanian Embassy in the United Kingdom Mr Mihai Ioan, the honorary consul of Romania in Wales, Mrs Diana Stroia, and Mrs. Gabriela Ferguson," according to a recent post on Iancu's social media page.
Iancu started crossing the Bristol Channel on Thursday morning, on a route between the towns of Glenthorne and Porthcawl. The crossing took place according to the marathon swimming rules, being supervised by the Bristol Channel Association, the legal entity that governs swimming in this channel and that organizes the crossing officially, with the pilot, co-pilot and observer of the race being all English.
Iancu is the 2022 recipient of the "Performance of the Year" title awarded by the World Open Water Swimming Association (WOWSA) because in 2021 he managed to swim 26 kilometres against the current on the Danube in 18 hours and 30 minutes, a world first.
Among Iancu's other achievements are swimming across the English Channel in August 2016, and swimming the entire course of the Danube without a wetsuit in the summer of 2017 over a distance of 2,860 kilometres.
