Leszek wrapped himself in foil to keep warm
Images: Adrian Uciński
The Yukon River, flowing 3,190km from its source in Canada to its Bering Sea outfall in Alaska, is more often associated with gold prospectors than open water swimmers, but both may search for something special that only untamed nature can provide, so inevitably a swimmer had to take on the mighty Yukon.
Until this year nobody had attempted a significant swim in the river, which is not surprising given its location just below the Arctic Circle in some of the northern hemisphere’s harshest landscapes, its banks sparsely settled and overlooked by dense forests and towering mountains. Accessing the river requires careful planning and as for swimming it, the potential unknown represented by currents, sediment, glacial water and bears is enough to make even the most daring think twice. Enter Leszek Naziemiec, a seasoned open water swimmer from Poland, specialising in cold and adventurous swims.