55 hours in the water: Polish swimmer crosses Baltic Sea from Sweden to home country

The swimmer set off from Sweden on Friday, making a fifth attempt to take on one of the toughest challenges of his career. On Sunday evening he reached the Polish coast, where crowds of supporters were waiting for him. For the feat to be officially recognised, Kubkowski had to leave the water under his own steam and could not receive assistance from a boat at any time. That condition was met.Once on shore, the athlete admitted that the sheer exhaustion meant he was not yet able to grasp the full extent of his achievement. For more than two days he remained in the water, with no sleep and no real break, racking up thousands of strokes.During the crossing, his main foe was not only the distance but also physical exhaustion. After several dozen hours without sleep, he went through crisis periods marked by concentration problems and loss of lucidity.