Icelandic long-distance swimmer Benedikt Hjartarson, 51, who last week became the first Icelander to swim across the English Channel, was honored on Nauthólsvík thermal beach in Reykjavík yesterday where a group of people had assembled.
Employees of the Department of Sports and Leisure in Reykjavík (ÍTR) and Siglunes Sailing Club organized the celebrations. After an award ceremony, attendees were given coffee and cakes, Fréttabladid reports.
The staff at Nauthólsvík have eagerly followed Hjartarson practice in the bay. He swam in the ocean up to six days a week and three hours at a time, year-round. At the award ceremony he received pictures of himself practicing at the beach on a day where the temperature in the ocean measured -1.9°C.
On Wednesday last week Hjartarsson swam 61 kilometers across the English Channel in 16 hours.
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