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 70 as each day is a dynamically different replication of the day before.

Day 65 on August 23rd

Today Iancu swam 22 km through a lot of wind and waves, reaching the 872 km milestone. This marks 200 km of swimming on the Romanian part of the Danube. They camped for the night on the Ostrovu Mare Island where a few villagers gathered together to meet Iancu. “I was very impressed to feel all these emotions coming from them and I could feel they understood what I was doing,” he said.

Two teenagers invited him and his team over for dinner at their parents’ house. “It was the most beautiful culinary experience since I started this journey. Everything on the table was organically grown by the family – tomatoes, cabbage, chicken and lamb, amongst others. It was so tasty and reminded me of my grandma’s cooking. We were very impressed, both by their hospitality and by how delicious the food was.”

Tomorrow he will swim the last 8-9 km before finally passing the last dam on the Danube.

The distance traversed on the Danube from Day 1 to Day 65: 1,988 km

The distance remaining to be covered on the Danube: 872 km

Day 66 on August 24th

Today has been a very special day for two reasons: it was Iancu’s wife’s birthday and the day he finally passed the 65th and last dam on the Danube. He left at 8:40 am with some of the villagers and the border police boat there to cheer him on. The weather has been very nice with no wind, resulting in a very calm Danube. A lot of people were waiting on the dam to see him swim by. After swimming to the shore and crossing the dam, Iancu started swimming for 3 km after passing the dam.

Iancu and the team were expected to spend the night at Pensiunea Gruia, one of his official sponsors so he had to push on swimming until he reached the place, swimming 21 km in total today. “I made a mistake when I stopped at the dam and skipped lunch for the first time so far. I only had 3 small chocolates and the last 4-5 km of today’s swim I was absolutely starving. My wife and daughters were waiting for me at the hotel and we all celebrated my wife’s birthday together. It was so nice to see them again.

The distance traversed on the Danube from Day 1 to Day 66: 2,008 km

The distance remaining to be covered on the Danube: 852 km

Day 67 on August 25th

Iancu swam 40 km today, reaching the 811 km milestone. There were no wind and waves, simply splendid weather with plenty of sunshine. “It feels like I am swimming in a different river after the dam. The Danube is very wide – more than 1 km – and as I was swimming through its middle, it felt like the shore was very far away. Ahead of me I had 20 km with the river flowing in a straight line. There were two hours of swimming without even realizing I moved at all, which is very disheartening. I am positive about tomorrow and it was nice to have a warm welcome again at the end of the day, with villagers and Canah delegates waiting for me.”

The distance traversed on the Danube from Day 1 to Day 67: 2,047 km

The distance remaining to be covered on the Danube: 813 km

Day 68 on August 26th

Today has been an excellent day with perfect weather for swimming. Iancu swam 49 km, reaching the 762 km milestone. “The water temperature has dropped slightly. When I entered Romania the water was 28°C; three days ago it was 26.5°C and today it was 25°C. I can definitely feel the change, but I am happy I am passed the 800 km milestone. I passed the town of Calafat, where I was again welcomed by the local mayor and then the Bulgarian town Vidin, which has a very beautiful citadel. After Vidin there are another 15 km where the Danube flows in a straight line so I had to swim for one or two hours without seeing any change in the shore.”

They camped in a village where all the villagers were waiting for Iancu, keen to meet him and cheer him on. “I am now in a routine which I very much enjoy. I hope the water temperature will not go below 20°C, this is my biggest fear at the moment.”

The distance traversed on the Danube from Day 1 to Day 68: 2,098 km

The distance remaining to be covered on the Danube: 762 km

Day 69 on August 27th

Iancu swam 41 km today, reaching the 721 km milestone. “It hasn’t been my best day, I did not feel at my best capacity and I felt like I had to put a lot of effort into today. At least we had very nice weather, even though the water temperature dropped another half of a degree. I am not really affected by it at the moment but I hope that it won’t drop even more. I am positive that I will feel better tomorrow and it will be a better day,” he said.

The distance traversed on the Danube from Day 1 to Day 69: 2,139 km

The distance remaining to be covered on the Danube: 721 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.
A report of his stage swims on Day 63-64 is posted here.
To follow Iancu on Facebook, visit here.

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