In April 2007, after 66 days, Matthew Mohlke became the first person to swim the Amazon, 3, 272 miles from the Peruvian Andes to the Atlantic shores of Brazil. On this extraordinary journey he dodged piranhas, sharks & river pirates, met indigenous tribes who either revered him as a god or chased him with machetes, & swam from dawn to dusk for 60 miles every single day. Like pioneers before him who first climbed Everest or explored the poles, Martin shifted the limits of human capability. His story
- of endurance, of determination, of dehydration & exhaustion, of illness & blood pressure that reached heart-attack levels
- is an inspiration to people everywhere.