Crossing from Denmark to Germany

Claudia Markwardt swam the 21K Beltquerung channel between Germany and Denmark and brought this international channel to our attention.

The Beltquerung was first crossed in July 1939 by Karl-Heinz Rauert from Germany to Denmark. He was the only swimmer to succeed for 60 years.

Currently, the International Marathon Swimming Beltquerung is annual event for both solo swimmers and relays.

The Sprint-Beltquerung is a 1K, 1.5K and 2K loop course held in mid-August. The Solo-Beltquerung is a 21K marathon swim from the beach at Rødby on the Denmark side of the channel to the finish at Niobe-Beach on the German side. The Relay-Beltquerung can be done at any time with 2, 3, 4 or 5 swimmers per relay.


The solo record is currently held by Christof Wandratsch (see photo on left) in 5 hours 11 minutes set in July 2005.

Christof, one of the world's best marathon swimmers, has held marathon records from the English Channel to Robben Island in South Africa.