Hamza Bakircioglu is an absolute fan of long-distance swimming. In general, water is his favourite element. Hamza, who grew up with his grandparents in Turkey after being born in Germany, learned to swim at the age of four in a lake around two kilometres from his grandparents' house.

At the age of 10 he returned to Germany with his five siblings. Hamza Bakircioglu spent as much time as possible in the water in the following years, trained to swim, especially the front crawl. At some point, as a visitor to the Rottach swimming pool, he compared the times of the competitors with his own times, more for fun, and lo and behold, he was able to keep up with his best performances.

That was the moment when ambition grabbed him, says Hamza Bakircioglu today about that point in time. In the following year he registered for the competition and won first place in his age group and second place overall. Today the master of industry Hamza Bakircioglu smiles at these times, because in his current actions he is easily around 24 hours in the water! His plan to swim across Lake Constance means covering a distance of around 64 kilometres. He had already attempted this once before, at the age of 41, but was ultimately stopped by an approaching thunderstorm.

A very strict set of rules applies to the crossing of Lake Constance, so it's no wonder that only two swimmers have succeeded in this endeavour so far. Hamza Bakircioglu is supported in his attempt by his family, his friends and his team: Nuri Bakircioglu, Anja Strobel, Steffanie Kuisle and Mimi Gendrong. They will accompany him in the boat, glow in the night and throw him the liquid food in a bottle on the way. Even touching the boat is strictly forbidden. There is a risk of immediate disqualification, because the entire process is continuously monitored by an observer from the organizer "Bodenseequerung".

On August 4th, 2014 it will be time. However, the basic condition is that Lake Constance must have a water temperature of at least 18°. Due to his active swimming style with continuous leg strokes, Hamza does not swim in a wetsuit. If the water temperature is too low, the attempt must be postponed. For practice, he had already spent 24 hours swimming in the water four times, but in the Wonnemar in Sonthofen, i.e. at a much higher water temperature.

Hamza Bakircioglu sees an essential aspect of his at least a little crazy venture as an offer of help in favour of the Allgäu workshops.

“The disabled employees here can really use support. It's incredibly motivating when you can support a good cause with such 'madness'." As part of a fundraising campaign, sponsors can make an amount available for every kilometre covered, which goes directly to the Allgäu workshops. Valued supporters of this campaign can find more information on the vonwellezuwelle.bodenseequerung.de website. A donation amount of one euro per kilometre swim can then bring in a donation of 64 euros for the Allgäu workshops.

Should the planned venture succeed on August 4th, further goals have already been set: "I want to swim the English Channel soon and then the Strait of Gibraltar," says Hamza Bakircioglu. According to Managing Director Michael Hauke from the Allgäuer Werkstätten, the donated money should go directly to the benefit people with disabilities.

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