Viktoría Áskelsdóttir, member of the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team, started a two-week swim over the Breiðafjörður gulf on Saturday, July the 24th. This is the first time any person tries to swim across the gulf.

The purpose of the swim is to encourage people to become Global Parents and thus sponsor projects for children in need around the world. Global Parents is a way for individuals to sponsor worldwide projects by UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, and thereby get an opportunity to change the life of children who are suffering from poverty, diseases or health problems, or who are victims of war or natural disasters.

The distance of the swim is about 62 km, of which Viktoría will swim approximately 4 km per day. The swim started at Brjánslækur on the Lambanes peninsula, North West Iceland, and will be heading south across the gulf, finishing in Stykkishólmur on Tuesday, August the 10th. Several boats will accompany Viktoría along the whole course as the sea currents can get very strong near the many islands of Breiðafjörður.

Stefán Ingi Stefánsson, director of the Icelandic national committee of UNICEF, swam with Viktoría on the starting day and has been in constant communication with her.  Everybody is welcome to join her and cheer for her along the way!

Viktoría Áskelsdóttir became 47 years old on July 25th. She was
therefore swimming in the sea in a temperature of 10 degrees on her birthday.

It is possible to witness the progress of the sea-swim, browse through some pictures and read from Viktoría’s diary at: www.unicef.is/sund.