Rescue Swimmers to cross the Gulf of Finland

In an effort to raise awareness for the deteriorating state of the Baltic Sea, eleven helicopter rescue swimmers will perform a relay swim between Tallinn and Helsinki on 1 July. The swim, which stretches roughly 110 kilometers across the Gulf of Finland, is scheduled to start at 10:30am local Estonian time. A SAR helicopter of the Estonian Police and Border Guard will accompany the launch.

The swimming team consists of rescue swimmers from Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Denmark, Spain, Portugal and Australia. Each participant will swim for 30 minutes at the time, and then rest on a support vessel for five hours until the next swim period. The relay swim is expected to take up to 48hrs.

The swimmers are all members of the European Rescue Swimmers Association (EURORSA). EURSA has members from helicopter rescue services in 17 different countries. The main idea is to develop communications between nations in order to share information on all issues related to air-sea rescue operations. Their motto is to "share, learn and live".

The money collected in the “Save the Baltic Sea” swim will be donated to the non-profit foundation Baltic Sea Action Group, which works for a living Baltic Sea.