Swim 170 km across the Baltic Sea! Is it possible? Bartek Kubkowski

Bartek explains that swimming 10 hours in a pool seeing only a black line is the 'most boring sport.' Unlike running or cycling, there is no changing landscape. The biggest danger after four hours is a void of thoughts. To combat this, Bartek developed 'Past, Present, Future Meditation.' He cycles through pleasant memories (Past), focuses strictly on stroke/breath mechanics (Present), and visualizes future life events in a self-induced trance (Future). He also 'returns to the hero of a book' to replay plots.

Bartek discovered this during training. He found that the flavor profile and composition of non-alcoholic beer made it easier to absorb and tolerate than specific sports nutrition gels or powders, which caused him heartburn. He specifically recalled a craving for 'heavily carbonated beer' during the actual event, though the crew has to flatten it first.

Bartek described his mental coach Rafał Mazur as his 'second brain.' When Bartek screams that he wants to get out, Rafał delivers a few keywords. This isn't just motivation; it reframes the screaming as 'the ego releasing negativity' rather than a true desire to quit. It separates the destructive voice from the self. This replaced previous sports psychologists who Bartek felt were simply roleplaying or using pseudo-scientific language that didn't connect with him.

The 2022 attempt ended functionally in the 19th hour due to a near-total muscle tear in the lat, resulting in a massive bruise across his entire chest. Bartek swam for 14 hours with the tear where 'every second was pain.' The new protocol is designed to handle the 50km training sessions without creating the cumulative load that leads to such catastrophic breakdowns.

Bartek treats the boat as a stage. If he sees someone pacing worriedly or, worse, sleeping, he constructs paranoid scenarios in his head (e.g., 'Why is Wojtek pacing? Maybe the passage is blocked.'). This negativity loop can kill the attempt.

He connects his shift to a broader cultural problem where people live in the past or future, entirely missing the present. He realized he was constantly projecting negative scenarios and chasing a future that didn't exist. By slowing down—walking his dog without his phone, meditating on the water, and practicing gratitude—he believes he has broken this cycle. He admits his girlfriend would say he is still a work in progress, but the difference is stark enough to make the grueling training enjoyable. He specifically points out that waking up at 4 AM to suffer is not a badge of honor if you can sleep until 8 AM and perform better.

Before meeting Romanowski, Bartek couldn't even submerge himself in 5-6 degree Celsius water without violent shaking and fear. After a mental training session with his mental coach Rafał Mazur and Romanowski, he not only entered the water but stayed for two hours. Romanowski educated him on the physiological processes of hypothermia so that when the symptoms appeared, Bartek recognized them as safety mechanisms rather than death sentences. This 'knowledge removes fear' approach allowed him to stay calm, teaching him that inner peace is the only way to survive the cold.

Bartek contrasts this with his own experience in the SMS sports school system in Wrocław, where trainers did their job mechanically and went home, never inviting him for coffee or private conversation. He felt alone as a teenager. He later found this mentorship in Piotr Gieczewski back in Giżycko, who not only trained him but raised him—reading swimming books during practice and always arriving first. This shaped his belief that the coach-athlete relationship is foundational to success, a standard he never found again until recently.