Martin Strel swam the Amazon River (5,268 km) and the Yangstze River in China (4,003 km), he also swam the length of the Mississippi River (3,885 km). He did all this slightly overweight and slightly drunk. He has avoided piranhas, anacondas, crocodiles, stingrays and bull sharks; swimming unscathed into the Guinness Book of Records four times.

He is the ultimate lesson in doing things when people say you can't. Laughing in the face of adversity, then taking a big glug of whiskey and diving in. Some call him the last true super hero, some call him big river man. Whatever the name, us mere mortals should stand up and salute a true mentalist and an absolute legend. He spoke exclusively to moon rocks about a life in the water.

Your first long distance swim was from Tunisia to Italy and the seven men who previously attempted it were eaten by sharks, yet you survived. And more recently in the Amazon you avoided piranhas, crocodiles and bull sharks. What kept you safe? 
It's hard for me to say what exactly keeps me safe on all these trips. I believe nature helps you if you have good intentions like I have and same do animals. It is impossible to avoid all the encounters, but what counts is that you get to the end and stay alive. I feel nature is with me when I need it and so do the animals. I do have some kind of strong bond between them! When I look back how many times my life has been exposed to the human edge/limits, it is kind of stupid what I do, but at the same time all these challenges are based on trying and achieving something on the edge, beyond the limits. And today I am very pround of what I have achieved.

Did you receive support from the tribes people and the villagers on the banks of the Amazon all the way down?
And if so how did they know you were coming? 
Yes we all did receive support from the local people and tribes living along the river (and lots of cheering). My swim was a big story and entertainment for me, especially because i come from Europe and they were surprised how I come all the way to the Amazon and swim it. Amazon people have different lives than we do here in urban areas. My swimming is probably going to be a historical story for their life as such things do not happen there every year.
Word of mouth was going fast from village to village as we were proceeding and I am sure they heard on the news as well. So there were may ways how they heard about us. Some villagers told us they were waiting for us one week along the bank to see us.

Most professional trainers would strongly advise against drinking alcohol while swimming an average 50 miles every day. Do you feel your daily intake of wine, beer and whiskey helped your progress? 
I do believe my intake habits help me with my progress, otherwise I would not be doing it.
I know many people do not get this but it works on me and I feel great. I am not an alcoholic like some states, but i do drink wine on a daily basis, but not bottles and bottles.

During your swims you enter a meditative state, telling yourself stories and re-living memories. Is this an essential part of your long-distance stamina?  
This is essential. Marathon swimming like I do is very boring if you do not know how to motivate yourself. Swimming is repetitious action and you need to put yourself into a state where you can forget where you are and what you are doing. Many times when I was swimming the amazon, I was somewhere else, somewhere where I could forget on my pain and  all the dangers around.  

After completing such a massive achievement, was it difficult to return to 'normal life'? 
Yes, it was difficult. Especially to live back with people and the crowds around. Swimming for 2 months gives you several mental problems which usually takes much longer to recuperate. It took me more than 1 year to get back to normal life and even nowdays I still re-live the amazon experience from time to time. It's like you get a tattoo in your mind! Forever! 

Any money you made from the Amazon swim was lost in the following five months of gambling, do you regret this or is money not so important for you? 
Not all the money was gambled away, this is a little bit made up in the film. But I did gamble some to enjoy my life and have some fun. In reality there was not much money left to gamble because Amazon swim took most of our money. I live for my adventures and it is very difficult to raise funds for such trips, so there is not much to gamble at all.

You say you now have a recurring dream of swimming and re-swimming the Amazon, has this become a fear or a fantasy? Are you happiest in the water? 
It is both, a bit fear and a fantasy or I would call it now re-calling/living my Amazon experiences on the ground. I could say I am the happiest in the water many times. As you know we humans cannot live in the water, but it is true that my life is connected very closely to the water and I do feel second home there.  

At the end of the film, you say that Jay Leno and Letterman promised you appearances on their shows that never materialized. Yet they constantly interview the likes of Paris Hilton – do you think we have lost sight of the true heroes? 
I am not sure if we should call this lost sight of true heros, I'd rather say media houses mostly care about making money from commercials, airing figures that are very popular for the time and that's it. Everything is measured by popularity today and media creates that. My achievement is big for me and 'my audience' - people who care about what I did. But this is probably not big enough for Jay Leno's audience where people rather see Paris Hilton and 'her achievements'. Jay Leno's TV considers Paris more profitable figure than me and that's why she is there on and on.
I hope our film Big River Man brings the message to as many people as possible. And i believe my story will end up on a TV talk show one day as well.

You have swum the length of the Mississippi, the Yangtze and the Amazon. Have you tackled these challenges for your own sense of achievement or to inspire others? 
I did those challenges for both reasons. I wanted to prove myself this is possible and at the same I wanted to inspire others to follow their dreams, challenge themselves and care about clean waters and green environement. 

Now you have swum the big rivers, do you have plans for any more sea swims or have you done enough marathons? 
I do have plans on my 'to do' list but not sure when (and if) this is going to happen. Not many rivers are left for me but yet there are some i'd like to try.
Should fund raising be easier for such projects, I'd be very happy to swim more often, but unfortunatelly this isn't like that. So, I still look forward to the new challenges! 

Watch the film: Big River Man
Read the book: The Man who Swam the Amazon
Visit the website: www.amazonswim.com