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Nearly one thousand people took the plunge in Budapest on Saturday along one of the Danube’s usually busiest stretches — between Corvinus University and the University of Technology — for the Generali OWT Danube Swim.
It was the first time in six years the event had been held, since organising it requires serious preparation, organiser Balázs Mezős told Euronews.
“This is a very big event: almost 40 paramedics watch over the swimmers, 12 motorboats look after them, and the entire Danube is closed for four hours, so no one can enter or leave. The larger ships have to be cleared from the start and finish areas and moved elsewhere,” Mezős explained.
For competitors, it’s an extraordinary experience to swim somewhere that would normally be unthinkable, given the boat traffic and safety considerations. Budapest unfolds before them in a completely different way.
“I used to come to university over Liberty Bridge every day,” one young woman told Euronews. “I would always look out from the tram, wondering what it would be like to swim across — whether you actually could. It never occurred to me that it was really possible. Then we found out this event existed, and we signed up as soon as registration opened.”
According to the organisers, the water is clean, the stretch is safe, and there are no dangerous eddies.
“People are very wary of the Danube,” Mezős said. “That basically stems from the fact that they don’t swim in it, because usually you’re not allowed to. Fortunately, more and more open-water Danube beaches are being built here in Budapest and across the country, so people are slowly getting used to it. You can see that in our swimming races, where the number of participants keeps growing. So I think there’s a kind of mistrust that has no real basis. People tend to mention whirlpools first, but there aren’t any here — what little current there is wouldn’t even be able to pull under a duck. You have to give it a try: the first time or two might feel a bit uncomfortable, or exciting, or even scary, but by the third time it’s a real pleasure. Swimming while carried along by a current of about five kilometres an hour is heaven itself.”
“A fantastic experience,” said a British man living in Budapest, whose wife and two young daughters were waiting for him in front of the University of Technology. “Every Budapest resident should try it once. The start is tough because of the current — you think you’re swimming in a straight line, but you’re not. But the organisation is excellent; it’s a great event.”
The Danube Swim is part of the Generali Night Run sports festival, which offers participants a range of distances to run, in the morning or even at night, through some of Budapest’s most iconic locations.