Romanian endurance swimmer Avram Iancu swims across English Channel in breaststroke style

18 August 2026 Avram Iancu, a Romanian librarian turned endurance swimmer, famous for his feats, managed to swim across the English Channel on Monday, August 17, using the breaststroke style. After the crossing, he said he had faced an “absolutely exhausting” challenge, describing it as the toughest swimming experience of his entire career. “My strength is not my merit, but a gift from God, for which I thank Him! By far, this was the hardest and most difficult swim of my entire career. I am simply collapsed,” Iancu said after the crossing, which lasted 24 hours and 46 minutes. The swimmer from Petroșani pointed out that this was his third time across the Channel, following his successful crossings in 2016 and 2024, using the crawl stroke. This year's crossing, however, was especially diffi