Psychologist and “swimming coach” Knut Ivan Rasmussen (44) has plunged into his longest stage so far: He is swimming Oslo-Bergen this summer.
Less than 20 minutes ago
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Rasmussen jumped into the sea on July 1 this year, and has already covered almost 200 kilometers. With a goal of reaching Bergen in early August, he tries to swim a little over 15 kilometers a day.
– We take stage by stage. It has been an adventure, says Rasmussen to VG.
The distance is around 700 kilometers. He has swum between 13-23 kilometers a day, but the day stages depend on both form and conditions. This means about six hours in the water, daily. When Rasmussen is not in the water, he spends time on a boat that follows him.
– I have with me a good team of friends in the boat.
– «Mayday-Mayday» -stemning
When VG spoke to the 44-year-old on Thursday, he had crawled past Risør, but the journey has not only gone downstream. Just as he was going into the water outside Sandefjord, the propeller on the boat got stuck.
– There were quite a lot of waves, so there was a bit of a mayday-mayday atmosphere. We had to be rescued by the rescue service and towed ashore.
Beyond that, the swim has gone according to plan. Rasmussen says he has gotten in better shape since he started, and that swimming is getting easier and easier. A known nuisance has nevertheless been reported:
– The worst are the stingrays. I burn myself all the time, he says.
–Do you want to follow Knut Ivan’s swim? Her you can see where he is right now.
Just to plunge into it
The psychologist from Narvik got the idea when he was looking for new swimming distances. After looking at a map, he concluded that Oslo-Bergen was a natural distance to try.
– I thought it should go in a couple of months. I’ve always loved a little extreme stuff.
It is not new for Rasmussen to “push” the boundaries. He has previously swum 36 hours in a row, from the innermost part of the Oslo Fjord to the “End of the World” in Færder, he has cycled Trondheim – Oslo and participated in the “world’s toughest” Norseman Triathlon. He has done the Horten-Moss swimming distance many times.
When he decided to swim from the capital to the capital of Western Norway, he just had to dive into it.
– The most important thing is to try.
–Treat yourself to a “cold one”
Rasmussen estimates that so far he has swum around a third of the distance to Bergen. When he goes ashore he clear plans.
– I will buy a coffee cup and see if I can hold it without spilling coffee, he says jokingly.
He also plans to celebrate the feat with the first beer of the year. He has not drunk alcohol since the New Year to maintain top form.
– I will treat myself to a little sea breeze when I arrive, it would have been lovely.
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