Historic Lake Crossings: Records and Remarkable Swimmers
Humans have always challenged themselves by confronting the lake. Many have attempted to swim across it, many have given up, and few have succeeded.
To avoid going too far back in history, it’s enough to remember the feat accomplished on June 21, 1997, by the Treviso native Marco Battaggia, who swam from Riva to Desenzano in 21 hours and 48 minutes.
Only two years later, in October 1999, the Italian record was broken by Slovenian Martin Strel, who took 21 hours, 25 minutes, and 32 seconds to cover the same stretch.
Swimming crossings achievements
These are the classic crossings, but it is also worth recalling the feats of the oldest swimmer and the youngest female swimmer, both attempting the “short” crossing from the Veronese shore to the Brescian shore.
The first is Bolzano native Daniele Pizzo, who on October 5, 1998, at the age of 67, made a round trip (with a quarter-hour break to munch on some chocolate) from Campione to Malcesine in about four hours.
The second is 13-year-old Dutch swimmer Brigitte van den Berg, who on July 24, 1999, swam the stretch between Forbisicle (below Campione) and Assenza using breaststroke in one hour and 42 minutes.