Bartłomiej Kubkowski became the first person ever to swim across the Baltic Sea from Sweden to Poland, completing the roughly 160-kilometre crossing nonstop in about 55 hours. He waded onto the beach at Dziwnów on the evening of 2 August 2026, salt-stung and not too steady, on his fifth attempt.
The Polish ultra-distance swimmer set off from Sweden on Friday and spent more than two full days in the water without sleep, never once touching the support boat. His team passed him food and drink on skewers as he trod water, keeping him fuelled through the cold, changeable conditions.
Two nights, no sleep, and moments of crisis
The second night brought the hardest test. After dozens of hours without rest, Kubkowski suffered concentration problems and at times hallucinations, his team reported on Instagram. They guided his navigation and kept up a steady intake of energy while supporters tracked his progress toward the Polish coast.
Once ashore, the swimmer admitted the exhaustion meant he could not yet grasp what he had done. The rules demanded he leave the water under his own power, and that condition was met.
Four earlier attempts, one lasting lesson
Kubkowski first tried the crossing in 2022, stopping after 115 kilometres. His closest call came in 2025, when he covered roughly 159 kilometres in 53 hours before extreme exhaustion forced him out — just 15 kilometres short of Poland. This time he drew on all of that experience, combining hours of swim training, endurance work, and a carefully planned nutrition strategy.
"After several dozen hours, you're not really thinking clearly anymore," he told reporters afterwards, describing the crisis moments when his team became his compass. The swim doubled as a fundraiser for the Cancer Fighters foundation, continuing a long habit of combining extreme sport with charity.
Five attempts, thousands of hours of training, and one quiet step onto the sand — the Baltic was finally behind him.
