Before open water swimming had GPS tracks and timing chips, it had stories.

A poet who swam between continents (1810)

In 1810, a 22-year-old Lord Byron swam the Hellespont (the Dardanelles) from Sestos to Abydos. He was inspired by the myth of Hero and Leander and wanted to test himself against it. Later, he wrote about the feat, half boast, half grin, in a short poem and in letters home, turning a private exploit into a public legend. The image stuck, a Romantic poet literally crossing from Europe to Asia, salt-sprayed and triumphant. That single act, and the way Byron framed it, put long swims into the cultural imagination of Britain and beyond. Byron couldn’t resist turning his crossing into verse. One line, in particular, has echoed ever since:

“And swam for Love, as I for Glory.” Lord Byron, written After Swimming from Sestos to Abydos (1810)

Why Greece mattered to Byron

For Byron, Greece wasn’t just another stop on a Grand Tour. It was myth made real: the sea lanes of Odysseus, the temples of Athena, the same winds and waters that had carried legends. He swam the Hellespont partly for the thrill, partly to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Leander’s ghost, but also because Greece meant freedom. When the Greeks rose against Ottoman rule, Byron didn’t just cheer from afar, he joined them, spending his fortune and finally his life in their cause. He died in Missolonghi in 1824, remembered there not as a poet but as a liberator. That emotional pull hasn’t gone away. For many of us, swimming in Greece still feels different. The water is clearer, yes, the coastline more dramatic, yes, but it’s also a stage set with layers of meaning. To enter the Aegean is to step into a story that began with Homer, surged through Byron, and continues with every race like Ultraswim 333.

The first “modern” ultra swim (1875)

While Byron’s legacy was poetic, the next great chapter in open water swimming was all about athletic rigor. Sixty-five years after Byron’s Hellespont crossing, Captain Matthew Webb stepped off Dover Pier and swam breaststroke to France in 21 hours 45 minutes, the first documented, unaided crossing of the English Channel. It happened on 24–25 August 1875, and it changed everything. The Channel became the Everest of water, newspapers minted a new kind of endurance celebrity, and swimming moved from curiosity to spectacle to sport. This year marks 150 years since Webb’s crossing, a perfect moment to reflect on where open water has come from and why it still matters.

Byron’s shadow over the Victorians

Did Webb swim “because Byron did”? The record doesn’t show that. Biographies point to Webb being galvanized by news of other Channel attempts rather than Byron’s poetry. But the Victorian press and public continually connected feats like Webb’s back to Byron and the Hellespont. Byron supplied the mythic template, Webb supplied the proof.

A cultural through-line: from romance to rigor

Romance: Byron’s accounts gave swimming a heroic, almost literary glamour, water as an arena for courage and self-definition.

Rigor: Webb’s Channel crossing turned long-distance swimming into a disciplined athletic project with tides, pilots, feeding plans, and cold adaptation, the DNA of modern marathon swimming.

Hold both lenses together and you get the sport we recognize today: numbers and navigation wrapped around a very old human impulse to move through wild water. No lanes, no lines, no limits.

Skopelos 2025 and Ultraswim 333

Against that backdrop, the ninth edition of Ultraswim 333 unfolded this September on the island of Skopelos. A sold-out field of 173 participants from 24 nationalities came to swim six stages over four days, totalling the straight line Channel distance of 33.3 km. What set this event apart wasn’t just the scenery (crystal-clear 25°C waters, dramatic coves, and seas shifting from calm to chop), it was the community. Women made up 57% of the field, a rare statistic in ultra-endurance sport. Swimmers ranged from 14 to 74 years old (average age: 50). Of the 173 starters, 160 earned their Finisher Droplet, including 110 first-timers and 63 returning UltraSwimmers. A nice detail that brought Webb’s legacy to life: his great-great-granddaughter Jessica swam the event, 150 years on from his Channel crossing.

The Soundtrack of Our Swim

For many of us, the poems of Skopelos are more modern. The island served as the backdrop for the movie Mamma Mia!, and the music of ABBA was the unofficial soundtrack to our event. Unfortunately due to conditions we did not get the chance to swim past the iconic Chapel of Agios Ioannis, where a famous scene was filmed. But I did spend hours in the water humming "Dancing Queen". The music in added a layer of pure fun and pop culture to the ancient landscape. On top of the soundtrack, the visuals were provided by another talented quartet of Swedes. Michael Lemmel orchestrated from a far and the on-site media crew; Josefine Ås, Otto Norin and Rasmus Lodenius did an amazing job of capturing the drama of the sea, the smiles on shore, and the small but unforgettable moments that defined the event. Most of the photos here are from them — thank you.

Race highlights

Skins Category (no wetsuit):

• Women: Our very own Åsa Nyström (SWE) - 08:49:52

• Men: Dougin Walker (USA) - 08:23:38

Wetsuit Category:

• Women: Sally Scaffidi (AUS) - 09:30:00

• Men: Marco Fratini (ITA) - 08:14:08

Other great performances from the Bromma/Envol Team from Jesper Holmberg (SWE) who fought with the lead pack on each swim managing a 3rd place in the men's skin classification and Liza Dunham (USA) 2nd in the women's wetsuit class. Other members Filipe Rodrigues (POR) with a solid 12th in the men’s skin class and Emma Strinning Stravrou (SWE) 28th women’s skins. Our Team taking 25% of all podium places!

Also a special shout out to our new friend Nicole Schwarz (GER). Nicole bumped into us at the airport and became a honorary member of the team for the week. Coming from a triathlon background, her 2025 mission was to do an ultra in each of the three disciplines. I hope you had fun and that I’ll see you at an Ultraswim next year.

Beyond the performance end of things, special awards reflected the spirit of the event:

• Most Improved: James Bucher (leaping from 137th on Day 1 to 57th overall).

• Most Finishes: Kamal Nasrollah, claiming his 7th UltraSwim Droplet.

• RED Resilience Award: Ricardo Walter (15h 11m) and Linda Quirk (20h 28m) for the longest (but successful) times in the water. I'm in awe of those times in the water - just incredible and a testament to true grit. It also shows how accessible open water swimming is. With the right determination you will get to the finish line. As a non load bearing activity it really is 95% mental with technique being the key determinant of pace. Swimming is much less determined by physiological markers like VO2 Max which makes it accessible, even winnable, way up the age groups. If you still aren’t convinced about trying marathon and ultra swims read “why some marathons are for everybody”.

My Race Story

Compared with #2 and #5 in Montenegro, I had no ambitions of glory this time, no chasing places or clinging to the draft of a faster swimmer. This one was purely for fun, for the love of open water. Add in the luxury of five-star living and a morning baptism in Poseidon’s realm — waking in comfort, then answering the ancient call of the waters. Nereus would approve of this old man too.

On the second day, I found my swim buddy, Envol's own LA based Liza Dunham. I'd typically find her mid-stage, and we'd work together on the swims. The ability to keep consistent power in your stroke over several hours is a skill to be honed, limited as least as much to your mental focus as your physical state. Teaming up with Liza made all the difference. Her pace was perfect. Not fast enough to put me in trouble but challenging enough to need to stay in the moment.

There were high winds from the North, so most of the swims were kept in the south of the island to avoid the worst of the chop, but certain sections were still challenging. The swell could suddenly rise around a headland, testing both sighting and rhythm. In those moments, staying relaxed and trusting the stroke became essential.

The 25 degree water felt perfect, crystal clear and teeming with light. At times I could see schools of small fish darting below me, and the dark patches of sea grass or a rocky seabed sliding beneath gave a sense of speed and distance covered. Every breath was a postcard view; Skopelos’ green hills, white chapels, and rocky cliffs framed against the Aegean sky.

Friday Stage 1 - Loutraki to Neo Klima (3.7 km) and Stage 2 - Neo Klima to Panormos (4.6 km) were a gentle introduction, though the chop on Stage 2 hinted at what was to come. I eased into this one swimming alongside fellow Bromma squad swimmer Emma. After a summer of dedicated swimrun swimming (pull and paddles), I was re-finding the precision based flow of no-gear swimming. 5th place men’s rubber.

Saturday Stage 3 - Staylos Loops (7.9 km) this one tested pacing discipline, long enough to lose yourself, but short enough to tempt you to push hard. The coastline here was spectacular, caves and coves opening like theatre sets as we passed. Based on scratch ranking (30th) this was my best swim. 3rd place men’s rubber.

Sunday Stage 4 - Adrina - Limonari - Amarandos (11.5 km) was the queen stage: a true marathon swim, where the first eight kilometers flew by and the last three and a half felt never ending. Fatigue was setting in, the sun was high, and the sea grew restless with cross-chop that constantly broke rhythm. Every buoy felt further away than it should have been, and it became a battle of focus as much as muscle: probably a mixture of glycogen depletion, mental weariness, and tricky conditions. 4th place men’s rubber.

Monday Stage 5 - Around Dasia Skopelou (4,9km) brought us around a wild, open stretch with currents tugging in odd directions, before the final celebratory Stage 6 - Back to Adrina (untimed) (1 km), where the field swam together more like a parade than a race. 3rd place men’s rubber on the day for a combined 4th place all swims.

In a weird way, swimming in the ocean is both lonely and connected. You spend long minutes with only your thoughts and the sound of bubbles, yet the glimpse of a swimmer’s safety buoy or the flash of a kayak paddle on the peaks of a swell gives you an invisible bond. It’s solitude braided with community.

My thanks again to the 333 organizers, volunteers and crew. The safety protocols and logistical precision were flawless, and every detail (from stage planning, feed stations to finish line cheers) reminded me why this event has quickly become iconic. The camaraderie at the finish line (hugs, cheers, and shared exhaustion) captured the spirit of the race far more than any medal could (no matter how nice!).

More than a race

The event's motto, borrowed from Webb himself, carried over every stage: “Nothing great is easy.” For some, Ultraswim 333 was about racing tactically at the front; for most, it was about camaraderie, encouragement, and simply finishing. In that mix: myths, history, numbers, and shared effort, you see why open water continues to matter and why more and more people are jumping in.

Next year my plan is to swim #14 Switzerland 24-27 July 2026. Set against the breathtaking backdrop of Lake Geneva (Lac Léman). Few places in the world can match this combination of crystal-clear freshwater, warm 22–25°C conditions, and a panorama of the Alps, Jura, and UNESCO-listed vineyards spilling down to the lakeside villages. From Lausanne, the Olympic city, to Montreux’s jazz-infused shoreline and the fairy tale Château de Chillon, every stroke promises history, culture, and natural beauty. I’d love for others to join me in this unforgettable adventure, because this isn’t just a swim, it’s an immersion into one of Europe’s most spectacular landscapes. Please contact me if you are interested in joining our band of merry swimmers.