Bishkek, Aug. 27, 2025 /Kabar/. South African-born Australian world record holder Cameron Bellamy swam across Issyk-Kul Lake, 53.5 km wide, in 18 hours, Director of the Tourism Department under the Ministry of Economy and Commerce of the Kyrgyz Republic Erdenet Kasymov told at a press conference at Kabar Agency.
According to him, world-famous swimmer Cameron Bellamy has arrived in Kyrgyzstan. He is a nine-time record holder in open water swimming and ocean rowing.
"This is a truly significant international sports and tourism event. Cameron Bellamy swam from the village of Bosteri to the village of Kadjisay. This event reveals Kyrgyzstan, as the world is closely watching this person," he said.
Kasymov also noted that the program for sustainable tourism development until 2030 plans such events of an event-like nature and the attraction of world-famous personalities from various fields to the country.
In turn, Cameron Bellamy said that his first visit to Kyrgyzstan was in 2009, when he traveled around Central Asia.
“When I was in Kyrgyzstan that year, I fell in love with this country. I was not a swimmer then. And I decided that I would come back here someday. After the visit, I went to the UK to work and at the same time I was swimming. There I swam across the English Channel and by that time had already broken the Guinness record twice. One swim was in Barbados - 151 km to Santa Lucia, the second - a difficult swim was around Barbados, 96 km. After that, I wanted to fly to Kyrgyzstan, but the COVID-19 pandemic happened,” he said.
Cameron Bellamy emphasized that before that, width swims had already been held in Issyk-Kul, but with stops where the participants rested and had a snack. However, he swam non-stop for 18 hours straight.
“In fact, this swim that I completed is also considered a record in accordance with the rules of international marathons. But my main goal is to swim across Issyk-Kul in length, also without assistance. I plan to do this next year, the length of the swim will be more than 170 km. Now I have completed a test swim in width. To give official status to this achievement, I brought with me an official representative and observer of the World Swimming Association. That is, my record is recorded and will be included in the Guinness Book of Records of this association,” said Cameron Bellamy.
It should be noted that his swim began on August 22 at 5:30 am, at that moment Issyk-Kul Lake was very calm. The swimmer successfully completed the distance in 18 hours, covering 53.5 km.
“Many people are probably wondering, because Issyk-Kul has already been swum across. But Cameron Bellamy did it without stopping, without breaks, swimming continuously for 53.5 km. Before that, the athletes who swam across the lake stopped, ate, drank and rested,” Erdenet Kasymov emphasized.
According to Elaine Van Vlack, an official observer at the marathon swims, she was present at the event to ensure that the swim complied with the rules of the World Open Water Swimming Association.
“A marathon swim is considered a continuous swim of more than 10 km, and Cameron swam much more. An unassisted swim within the framework of this association assumes that a swimmer can use only swimming trunks, goggles and a cap. No wetsuits or additional devices are allowed. The swimmer must enter the water on one bank and exit on the other. During the swim, he is not allowed to touch the boat or other people. An assistant is allowed, but he must swim behind the athlete," she added.