Hi everyone! :)

Wow, we've raised €500 - you are amazing; thank you!

I very much appreciate not just your generosity but also your help in spreading the word, and your encouraging comments - the latter really help in nudging me out of bed and into the pool for those early morning training sessions when I'd much rather stay in bed :)

The Red Cross is also grateful - this is what they wrote back to me after I transferred your donations to their projects:

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Hallo Herr Padro,

herzlichen Dank für Ihre Spende und Ihre Unterstützung!

Mit Ihrer Spende helfen Sie Menschen, die in Not geraten sind. Sie bewahren sie vor humanitären Katastrophen infolge von Naturunglücken oder bewaffneter Konflikte.

Besten Dank dafür!

Gemeinsam können wir viel bewirken.
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"Together we can achieve a lot" is right, so let's do it!

As I had indicated before, I'm planning to keep this fundraising effort going indefinitely, and I'll keep positing regular updates about the next events and the progress that we are making together.

Brief Update:

After the 14 km swim in Lake Orta, Italy on June 24, I took a week off from swimming. It felt great :) Then, in July I went back into training mode, i.e. back to my usual routine of swimming 4km (almost) every day.

Last week I registered for the 9.3 km swim in Benidorm, Spain in October 15th - this is part of the Oceanman World Champioship series.

Recently I have been in contact with the German Red Cross (Deutsches Rotes Kreuz) - they liked this fund-raising project enough that they are going to feature it in their blog, and in one of their partners' blogs. More to come on this.

What's next:

On Saturday, August 5th I'll participate in the Starnbergersee Schwimmen between the towns of Leoni and Possenhofen (Bavaria, south of Munich). This swim is not so long (4km), but the landscape is beautiful with the Alps nearby :) I hope the water stays at (still frisky, but manageable) 22 degrees!

This is what the route looks like - straightforward swim from Possenhofen to Leoni and back.



What to do:

If you're receiving this update, you probably have already donated money to this fundraiser, so I won't ask you again - but it would be great if you can continue to support this effort by getting the word out there and sharing this website (http://bit.ly/SwimDonate) with your friends :) - helping those in need could not get any easier!

And after this?

I will swim a short (1.6km) open water race in Ferrol, Spain on August 20th. The next swim after that is the 9.3 km in Benidorm. Then possibly the last one for the year: I am the first one in the waiting list for the 15 km swim between the islands of Fuerteventura and Lazarote in the Canary Islands on October 28th - I hope to hear from the organizers soon!



Thank you all so much for your support! - please keep it up by sharing the link above.