<div><div><div><div>On Sunday, April 8, 2007, 52-year old Martin Strel completed the first-ever&nbsp;3,274-mile-long swim on the Amazon River.&nbsp;The Fish Man, as he was called by locals, almost died in the process several times;&nbsp;he encountered deadly piranha, crocodiles, anaconda, river sharks, blistering, relentless sun, dangerous currents, river pirates and drug runners, and the insidious candiru.&nbsp; At the finish his blood pressure was at heart attack level, his entire body full of subcutaneous larvae, and besieged by dehydration, diarrhea and exhaustion. </div></div></div><div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Strel, who&nbsp;holds multiple Guinness world records for long-distance river swims,&nbsp;undertook this epic Amazon swim to call attention to deforestation and river pollution.&nbsp; His&nbsp;journey&nbsp;was covered by national media around the world, and followed by tens of millions of readers&nbsp;on a website tracking his progress (www.amazonswim.com). A documentary film of his journey will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Drawn from the eloquent and evocative trip diaries of writer Matthew Mohlke, who guided Strel armed with buckets of blood to divert piranha, <i>The Man Who Swam the Amazon</i> is a gripping and inspirational story of perseverance, passion, and endurance: A real-life odyssey of a rare and driven man.</div><div><b></b>&nbsp;</div><div>&nbsp;</div></div></div>