Three has always been the number associated with 'charm', but for Bartłomiej “Foka” Kubkowski’s, it was five, as that is how many attempts it took to swim across the Baltic Sea.
On Sunday at around 8 pm local time, the swimmer came ashore at Dziwnów beach in Poland, which was a condition for completing the challenge.
In total, he swam 160 km in 55 hours. His feat helped the Cancer Fighters Foundation raise nearly 850,000 zlotys (€197,421) for the fight against cancer, and the fundraising campaign is still ongoing.
Several previous attempts to swim across the Baltic Sea ended for the record-holder almost at the final stretch. He came closest to breaking the record in 2025, when he swam 159 km, falling just 11 km short of his goal.
As Kacper Dereń, a member of the swimmer’s support team, said in an interview with Polish media, the record-holder was well aware that the greatest fatigue sets in after the 50th hour.
