Librarian Avram Iancu of Petroșani has become the first Romanian to swim across the Bristol Channel in the UK.
„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 honored 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 to the United Kingdom Mr Mihai Ioan, the honorary consul of Romania in Wales, Mrs Diana Stroia, and Mrs. Gabriela Ferguson”, states 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.
Before the start of the race, Iancu said that swimming across the 28-km Bristol Channel would be a difficult task due to a low temperature of the water, mentioning a continuous effort he would have to make.
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.
