Bartek Kubkowski – Inspiring the Baltic

The Baltic Sea attracts, challenges, and inspires... Today, for almost every open-water swimmer, crossing our sea has become a kind of "must-have" experience. Most daredevils aim to add the distance from Gdynia to Hel to their sporting portfolio—and an increasing number of athletes are managing to achieve this goal. Success fuels the desire for more, but only a select few manage to swim further. Swimming across the entire Baltic Sea has become a kind of "Holy Grail" of open-water swimming in Poland. We talk with Bartek Kubkowski about his next attempt to cross the Baltic. During this initiative, he supported the Cancer FIGHTERS Foundation with over 300,000 PLN, raised by fans during the campaign!

Swimming is a passion

Swimming can be a summer adventure or perhaps... the adventure of a lifetime?

Bartek Kubkowski: For me, it’s definitely a lifelong adventure because ever since I learned to swim at the age of 4, I’ve been constantly connected to water. Even in the moment when I ended my competitive swimming career and was certain I’d never step into the water again, this element has always remained my passion and love. I hope it will stay that way for as long as possible.

Ultra Baltic Swim…

What motivated you to take on this challenge?

When it comes to motivation, it has changed depending on the place and time I was in. At the beginning of the project, when I first announced it, my motivation was to take on a lifelong challenge and swim a route that no one in the world had ever completed before. But now, after two unsuccessful attempts, when I look back at how much money we managed to raise for children battling cancer, it’s this cause that motivates me the most today. And next year, I want to raise even more money while finally completing the entire route.

Swimming Helps

Swimming helps others, but… does it also help you? What does daily training give you, and what do you gain from such challenges and your involvement in charity campaigns?

For me, swimming is an opportunity to connect with nature on my own. The water is a place where I can find peace, despite the tough training sessions and immense effort. It’s a place that brings me a lot of satisfaction, tranquility, and time to be alone with myself. It serves as a form of therapy, allowing me to reflect and organize my thoughts about family life, business, and all the plans and dreams I have. I can calmly sort it all out in the water. For me, water is a place of peace where I truly find myself.

As for my involvement in fundraising and the main charitable goal, it’s definitely a big source of motivation. This year, I faced significant challenges, and my team showed me messages of support from children in oncology wards. That was a huge dose of motivation for me and a reminder of why we’re doing this.

Swimming – even though it’s done solo – has the power to help many children and people in need. I’m really happy that I can do this. People follow it, cheer for me, and that’s why I’ll keep doing it.

Training for Ultra Swimming

What does your training look like? How much time do you spend in the pool? How important is open-water training? What do you do to strengthen your body and mind overall?

My training cycle is spread over 12 months. Depending on the time of the year, the training varies greatly. Sometimes, I even have up to three rest days during the training period. However, when I summed up last year, I swam almost 3,500 kilometers. There were record-breaking months where I covered over 400 kilometers. There are also weeks when I swim 50 to 60 kilometers – that's the minimum I never go below.

Regarding land training, I worked with coach Bartek Paszkowski, focusing on preparing the upper body muscles to avoid injuries. Three times a week, I had specialized land training sessions, but practically every day, I did stretching and resistance exercises using bands and tubes. It worked really well for me.

As for mental preparation, I've been working with Rafał Mazur for the past two years. He’s been with me since the beginning of the project, taking care of my mental state. I have to say he’s done an incredible job, which is proven by the fact that we’re already preparing for the next season.

Swimming and Overcoming Challenges

What was the most difficult part of this attempt, and what about the previous one? What challenges do you foresee in the next attempt?

During this attempt, surprisingly, the biggest challenge for me was the temperature. I was very cold, and for the entire 28 hours, I constantly felt discomfort because of it. I didn’t expect the cold to affect me so much, even though I spent the entire winter season preparing my body and adapting it to cold conditions. It was really tough. I also experienced vomiting – I threw up four times – which worried me, but we quickly got back on track. During the last attempt, I also faced a back issue – I thought I had torn a muscle. Thankfully, it wasn’t torn, just strained, but it meant that from the 19th hour onward, I was battling intense pain.

As for the attempt in 2024, I don’t yet know what will be the hardest. Certainly, one of the challenges will be timing the weather right. In both the previous and this attempt, we were stopped by currents. You could say that this will be the most difficult aspect. However, we have no control over nature. Next year, we’ll try to aim for a weather window of at least 48 hours. It’s all about nature and battling the elements. What we can do is learn from what happened this time, prepare as well as possible for the next season, and hope that the Baltic Sea will be kind to us.

Success and Failure in Swimming

How do you celebrate success and handle failure?

A major life success should definitely be celebrated. It’s important to take the time to rest and enjoy the positive emotions that come with it. At the same time, it’s crucial to stay focused on your next life plans.

I replace the word "failure" with "lesson." For me, every failure is a lesson. It’s an opportunity to learn and gain insights about the areas I need to work on and improve. This year taught me a lot, helping me understand what I need to do differently to prepare just a few percent better in every aspect required for the swim. I believe that next year, with my entire team and community, we’ll succeed in completing the swim and achieve a record-breaking fundraising campaign.

Interviewed by: Maciej Mazerant / Editor-in-Chief, AQUA SPEED Magazine

Photos by: Przemysław Zawalich Photography | Courtesy of Bartek Kubkowski