In the German city of Konstanz on Sunday, Romanian librarian Avram Iancu kicked off a swimming race planning on crossing the entire course of the Rhine river in order to show support, through endurance swimming, for Romania’s accession to the Schengen area, according to a social media post, write Agerpres.

He will swim the 1,032 kilometres of the river without a neoprene suit or other supporting elements, just like when he became the first man in the world to cross the Danube river using only the strength of his arms. The duration of the race is estimated at 35 days.

„I have experienced special emotions at kilometre zero of the Rhine because of the presence of more than 50 fantastic Romanians, who took away from their time and travelled considerable distances just to be with me and our common cause and desire: entering the Schengen area. Thank you for the support of the representatives of the Romanian authorities in Germany: His Excellency Mr Radu Florea, the consul general of the Romanian Consulate in Stuttgart, was there for the start of the race. I also want to thank the Bodensee German-Romanian Society and its chair, Mrs Antonia Olariu, and the Romanian Orthodox Parish of Konstanz through parish priest Ionel Nemes, who was also present at the start doing a small church service, performing the Journey Prayer,” said Iancu.

The Romanian swimmer has already covered 11 km of the set course in about 5 hours, with fatigue setting in after the trip from Romania to the city of Konstanz in Germany.

The race can be watched on one of the tracking links available on the athlete’s Facebook page.

He said that his entire effort will be dedicated to Romania’s accession to the Schengen area, because he wants Romanians to be able to move freely through Europe, from the North Sea to the Black Sea.

„I wish that the hundreds of thousands of Romanians who return to the country for holidays or vacations will no longer stand in exhausting kilometer-long queues. I wish that Romanian haulers will no longer waste time and significant sums of money at unnecessary borders. Romania is in Europe! Romania is Europe!” Iancu said before leaving.

For the certification of his performance, the swim race will be officially observed by the world open water swimming organisations. The official observer will be swimming trainer Radu Ileana of Alba Iulia, 37, with 14 years of experience in teaching swimming in Deva and Alba Iulia.

Iancu is accompanied by a kayaker as aquatic support, and also by a team that will move on land.

He has so far achieved several other open water swimming performances, with the last one taking place in May, when he swam across the Sea of Galilee.

In the summer of 2017, he swam the entire course of the Danube without a wetsuit, over 2,860 kilometres, from its origins to the Black Sea.

In July 2022, he became the first Romanian to swim across the Bristol Channel, UK. In the same year, he was named „Performance of the Year” 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 record.

He also swam across the English Channel in August 2016.