Rabat – Moroccan swimmer Hassan Baraka will do an extreme sporting challenge to swim 1,000 meters in the North Pole without a wetsuit.
Baraka arrived in Oslo on Thursday. “First stop Oslo! Then Svalbard in the far north! Can’t wait to join my ice swimmers friends and all the other crazy swimmers of Ice Swimming Adventures,” he wrote yesterday on Instagram.
The challenge is set to begin on May 3 or 4 after Eid al-Fitr.
Besides being an extremely physical experience, the 1,000 m swim would provide a platform to discuss global warming and the melting of the arctic, said Baraka.
A total of 16 international athletes and champions will participate in the expedition including Bulgari’s Petar Stoychev, Finland’s Elina Mäkinen, France’s Marion Joffle, and South Africa’s Samantha Whelpton.
Italy, Bulgaria, England, Germany, Australia, the Czech Republic, and the United States will also be presented.
Baraka dedicated the challenge to his son. The Moroccan athlete left a sweet and heartwarming message to his son prior to the expedition:
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“Dear Aarone, I am proud of you, you show me every day how strong you are! No doubt that you will be stronger than me. Never give up, and fight for your dreams! I love you and will always protect you wherever I am. God bless you!”
The 35-year-old athlete is the organizer of the Ice Swim in Morocco, the country’s first swimming race in frozen water.
Baraka is also the first Moroccan to finish the World Marathon which consists of running 7 marathons in 7 days on 7 continents.
In October, he set the world record for the “fastest time to swim the length of the Aqaba Gulf.” It took him 8 hours and 30 minutes to complete the challenge.
