Did you know you can swim from Asia to Europe? That's exactly what nearly 3,000 people from all around the world did in Turkey's largest city Istanbul this weekend — in the famed Bosporus Cross-Continental Swimming Race.
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00:00Istanbul's iconic Bosphorus Strait is normally a very busy shipping lane, but once a year
00:08it belongs to swimmers.
00:13More than 2,800 people jumped at the challenge and swam from one continent to another on
00:18Sunday in what is one of the world's most popular open water races.
00:26The Bosphorus was closed to shipping traffic for a few hours, allowing participants to
00:31make the legendary 6.5-kilometer swim from Istanbul's Asian side to the finish line
00:38in Europe.
00:39It's pretty exciting even if you're only here as a spectator.
00:43The race's challenge is, by the way, not only its distance, but swimmers also need
00:47to navigate the powerful currents, otherwise they risk being swept away and not making
00:52it across the finish line.
00:56Some contestants are professional swimmers, others brave amateurs, and they have trained
01:01extensively for this day.
01:04The tradition began in 1989 with just a few dozen swimmers.
01:08This year, participants came from more than 70 different countries.
01:12It was something that I wanted to do for six years, and now I've finally made my dream
01:17come true.
01:18You can get from one continent to the other continent just by swimming.
01:23I think that's really fantastic, and that was the aim for me.
01:27You need to find the current, the right current.
01:29You need to have a reference point that is absolutely fundamental, and then just a sprint
01:35at the end.
01:36So, yeah, it was a success.
01:40This year's cross-continental champion comes from Turkey.
01:43Atakan Arcan swam the 6.5 kilometers in 45 minutes and 27 seconds.
01:50The fastest woman was Talia Erdogan, who finished in just under 47 minutes.
01:59But for many here, it's not so much about winning, but about coming together and sharing
02:07a unique experience in these famous waters between two continents.