Stand Up Straight, Delfina

Courtesy of Oktobar Film.

Lake Ohrid is a lake nestled between the mountainous borders of North Macedonia and eastern Albania. A deep lake with a unique aquatic ecosystem with more than 200 endemic species, it is also near the birthplace of Atina Bojadži (Macedonian: Атина Бојаџи).

Bojadži passed away in 2010 and was known as the Ohrid Dolphin. The life of the Macedonian Yugoslavian swimmer was featured in the 1977 movie called Ispravi se, Delfina (Stand Up Straight, Delfina in English). The 1 hour 31 minute movie centered on her 13 hour 20 minute English Channel crossing in 1969.

Ispravi se, Delfina (or Húzd ki magad, Delfina! for its later Hungarian television premier in 1984) dramatizes the story of a Macedonian girl trying to swim the English Channel. During the crossing, she remembers her troubled past.

Bojadži and her brother Diki Bojadži were fixtures on the professional marathon swimming circuit for years in the 1960s. She won the 1962 30 km Ohrid Lake Swim Marathon and won the 36 km Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli.



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