Marko Pejchinovski - Lake Ohrid

Ohrid - Struga - Ohrid

24.8 km (15.4 miles)

9 hours, 6 minutes on 4 September 2021

Observed and documented by Zoran Rodic

Swimmer
Support Personnel
Swim Parameters
Swim Data & GPS
Observer Log
Narrative
Photos
Video
Media
Appendix A: Weather

Swimmer

Name: Marko Pejchinovski
Gender: Male
Age on swim date: 15
Nationality: North Macedonia
Resides: Ohrid

Support Personnel

Observer: Zoran Rodic. Physical Education Professor, Certified Lifeguard, with a Certification for First Aid, and member of the jury for Ohrid Swim Marathon from 2007 till 2016.

Escort Vessels

Lake Legend (OH-971), Ohrid
Ristac (OH-2100), small pontoon boat, Ohrid

Swim Parameters

Category: Solo, nonstop, unassisted.
Rules: MSF Rules of Marathon Swimming, without exception or modification.
Equipment used: Textile swimsuit, goggles, earplugs, grease.

Route Definition

Ohrid to Struga to Ohrid

Body of Water: Lake Ohrid
Route Type: multi-way
Start Location: Ohrid Harbor (41.111914, 20.799159)
Finish Location: Struga (beach at hotel Drim) (41.172294, 20.679178)
Minimum Route Distance: 24.8 km (15.4 miles) (map)

History

No known previous two-way swims on this route. There is a longstanding professional race in this same body of water: Ohrid Swim Marathon.

Swim Data

Start: 4 September 2021, 07:17:47 (Europe/Skopje, Central European Summer Time, UTC2).
Leg 1 finish / Leg 2 start: 4 September 2021, 11:24:25
Finish: 4 September 2021, 16:24:22
Elapsed: 9 hours, 6 minutes, 35 seconds.
Split Times: 4:06:38 (Leg 1) + 4:59:57 (Leg 2)

Summary of Conditions

Feature	Min	Max
Water Temp (C)	20	23
Air Temp (C)	14	26
Wind (Beaufort)	F1	F2

GPS Track

Trackpoint frequency: 10 minutes. Download raw data (CSV).

Click to expand map.

Speed Plot

Nutrition: Maltodextrin carbohydrates from My Protein mixed with water and NUUN tablets – orange taste. Feeding every half an hour - 200ml.

Observer Log

Download PDF

Observer Narrative Report

Narrative of the event on 4th September 2021 – Two-way swim: Ohrid – Struga – Ohrid

After the two-way swim of the route Ohrid – St. Naum – Ohrid, which took place on 31st July 2021, we agreed to one more swim which was supposed to happen on 28th August 2021. However, due to Covid-19, it got postponed to a week later, on 4th September 2021.

The route for this swim was Ohrid – Struga – Ohrid, with a distance of 24.8km. Marko dedicated this swim to children with rare diseases.

The swim started at the planned time and from the same place as the last swim. The crew was more numerous than last time consisted of 13 people, with 9 of them in a pontoon boat and 4 people in the leading small boat. The conditions for following and observing were better than the last time.

The weather conditions throughout the swim were great. The atmosphere in the escorting vessels was excellent.

Marko maintained a pace of about 60 strokes per minute throughout the whole swim.

He completed the swim to Struga without any issues. The issues appeared towards the middle of the second segment, at 6km to the finish, when his swimming speed had drastically decreased.

His pace remained the same, about 60 strokes per minute, however, the water current was very strong and in the opposite direction of the swim.

Given that scenario, the supporting swimmer joined for the first time, in a duration of 5 minutes.

The strong water current in the opposite direction stopped at about 3km before the finish and Marko completed his swim in a great mood.

This is the first swim ever, with the route Ohrid-Struga-Ohrid, and Marko did it with a charitable purpose.

I hope for further cooperation with Marko’s team, towards Marko’s accomplishment of his sports goals.

11th September 2021 Observer

Zoran Rodic

Swimmer Narrative

by Marko Pejchinovski

What inspired you to do this swim?

My biggest inspiration going into this swim was representing the kids with rare diseases, because I also have a rare disease myself and I’m trying to help by raising awareness with this swim.

Please describe how you planned for the swim:

After my second swim which was on the 31st of July 2021 (Ohrid – St. Naum – Ohrid), we tried thinking of a shorter yet challenging route and we came up with the perfect route Ohrid – Struga – Ohrid, which is 25km. This swim was initially planned to be on the 28-th of August. However, as I had Covid – 19 I had to postpone it for a week, so it was on 4-th of September. I hadn’t stopped training since October 15th 2020, but because of the Covid I had to do home exercises for a couple of days. After I recovered from Covid, I had 2 more weeks left before the swim. Most of the trainings were done in a pool and only 3 of them in the lake. Nonetheless, my conditioning was still good and I was more than ready for the 3-rd swim of the year.

How did the swim go, generally? Did you face any unanticipated challenges?

The swim went great for the most part. I had great mindset going into the swim and kept it till the end of the swim. I knew that there will be water current, but I didn’t realize it was going to be that big of a problem. From Ohrid to Struga the water current was almost neutral and I had a very good pace, but I had leg pain during the entire swim and I just ignored it. On the way back I started really well, but that didn’t last for long because I had an elbow cramp, my leg pain was increasing and the water current was very strong and running against me. It was like I was swimming in the same spot for an hour. My mindset still didn’t change; I knew that I was going to finish with my arms in the air and with a big smile on my face. A few other boats joined to support me, which helped me and motivated me a bit more to finish the swim strong and I did it. A crowd of people welcomed me at the end. I felt like I achieved my goal for that swim.