July the 18th, 2024 – Valkane beach in Pula was the last stop in this year’s RokPoluotok swimming adventure around the Istrian peninsula, undertaken by Domagoj Jakopović Ribafish and the RokOtok Association.
The swimming session around the Istrian peninsula began on Sunday June the 23rd on the beach in Preluk. It all kicked off the continuation of the project #RokOtok which belongs to the RokOtok Association and Ribafish – RokPoluotok.
It all got started with a symbolic swim of about two hundred metres, and ended on the same way only on Pula’s Valkane beach. There was an educational workshop on the dangers of single-use plastics, socialising with children and adults, cleaning the beach and forest up, as well as searching for hidden treasures and hiding Geocaches. The RokOtok team were satisfied with the success of swimming across the entire eastern coast of Croatia’s largest peninsula, and have as such announced the continuation of the project in the middle of next year, more specifically in June.
During the 25-day implementation of the RokPoluotok project, Ribafish swam an average of five kilometres a day with many friends, swimmers, kayakers, SUP riders and one dog. They visited 11 beaches across eastern Istria and Kvarner in Preluk, Lovran, Mošćenička Draga, Brseč, Plomin Luka, Rabac, Sveta Marina, Tunarica, Ližnjan, Medulin and Pula.
More than 200 gifts were distributed at the reception in Pula following a short lecture on the dangers of single-use plastics, ecology and how free time for children and adults alike can be spent. Those 200 gifts saw the number rounded up to a nice figure of 1000 bags containing educational material and games that encourage children to socialise and spend less of their time sitting in front of screens. Kaufland also rewarded all of the children, and even a few grandmothers, with a mountain of ice cream.
After the completion of the first phase of the RokPoluotok project, which will continue next summer with swimming from Pula to Savudrija (and perhaps the Slovenian part of Istria), Ribafish said the following:
“I’m overjoyed that we more than successfully completed the first part of the RokPoluotok project. It was extremely demanding to swim these hundred kilometres in totally different weather conditions – around Opatija we went through a storm, near Lovran we were caught by waves higher than two metres, in the end we were swimming against the current, which feels like you’re pushing a wall with your head…
In the end, five kilos lighter, tired, I’m very proud of my crew, the kids and their parents who we were welcomed by. I’m grateful to all the people who support the RokOtok and RokPoluotok project. I’m infinitely happy that we cheered up a large number of kids and sent them an important message – that we have no other option and that we must protect our planet.”
Every child who came to the workshop received educational gifts, which, as well as the initiation of the project itself, were made possible by the following sponsors: Sport Vision Croatia, Raiffeisen Bank in Croatia, Hyundai, Croatian Tourist Board, Kaufland Croatia, Fina, JGL, Rio Mare, UHU , Lareto Food and donors White Shark, Speedo Croatia, Geocaching Croatia, Offset.hr, Fish Clash, Doppelherz Croatia…
On the occasion of the end of this unique swimming-educational marathon, Ribafish and the vice-president of the Rokotok Association, Kasandra Draganić, were admitted to the office of the Mayor of Pula, Marko Filipović, who supported them in their intention to show the young generations some qualities that we’re increasingly neglecting today due to busyness.
The RokOtok Association is starting preparations for the next 12 beaches that it will visit in the summer of 2025, while in winter this year, it will dedicate itself to cleaning up the continental part of Croatia with its sister association – Čisteći mevdjevići.
“Take care of nature, throw waste in the right place, talk to your parents and look forward to every little thing with a lot of play, adventure and research!” concluded the last gathering of the RokPoluotok Ribafish this year with a big round of applause from those gathered and a promise – we will continue next summer! See you in Pula in June 2025!
rokpoluotok in numbers
Swimming: 97,408 metres
Number of swims: 17
Number of jellyfish: 1
Number of kilos lost: 4 (there would have been more, but they pampered us and looked after us)
Number of steps: 233,357
Number of cleaned beaches: 10
Weight of collected waste: over 100 kilograms
Number of times spent with children: 11
Total hours spent in education and playing: over 30 hours
Number of swimmers, kayakers, SUP riders: 20
Number of kids at the gatherings: 700
Number of gifts distributed (kindergartens, schools, homes): 1,000
#RokPoluotok – swimming around the Istrian peninsula 2024-2025
Domagoj Jakopović Ribafish is otherwise a well-known Croatian food blogger, host and professor of geography in hiatus. After swimming to all of the country’s inhabited islands in the period from 2019 to 2022, and after a one-year break, he has started a new campaign in which he will try to swim around the largest Croatian peninsula over the course of two years.
The swimming is being divided into two seasons, i.e. the summers of 2024 and 2025. Over this, the first summer, he swam about a hundred kilometres from Preluk to Pula. Next summer, he intends to swim another hundred kilometres from Pula to Savudrija. As it is a geographical and not a geopolitical project, the swimming will include part of Primorje-Gorski County in addition to Istria. It’s important to emphasise that these are large sections, exclusively for professional swimmers accompanied by a boat, so swimming with children will be organised only on the beaches.
The plan is that in 25 days of swimming as part of RokPoluotok, Ribafish and other professional swimmers will come to the most beautiful beaches of Primorje, Kvarner and Istria through 20 sections (with a free day every five days of swimming) and hold 11 interesting workshops with an emphasis on ecology, the protection of nature and the preservation of Earth.
They will also organise a search for hidden treasures, set up and search for geocaches, and clean up the beaches and the environment in certain locations. Every child who comes to the workshop will receive educational gifts which, like the start of the project itself, were made possible by the following sponsors: Sport Vision Croatia, Raiffeisen Bank in Croatia, Hyundai, Croatian Tourist Board, Kaufland Croatia, Fina, JGL, Rio Mare, UHU, Lareto Food and donors White Shark, Speedo Croatia, Geocaching Croatia, Offset.hr, Fish Clash, Doppelherz Croatia…
The message they want to send to the people of RokOtok is that both children and adults need to spend time socialising and out in nature. Through lectures, workshops and socialising on the beaches, they will try to spend a few hours outdoors playing and having fun with the intention of proving to everyone that everything is better when it is in balance and when instead of staring at screens, more time is spent in the company of others and out in the fresh air.
RokOtok has already received numerous awards. It was declared the most beautiful story of the summer of 2019, and Domagoj Jakopović Ribafish himself has taken home plenty of awards for this project, including those of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, Local Hero and Ponos Hrvatske (The Pride of Croatia).
During the cold part of the year, hundreds of environmental clean-up actions were carried out with the Čisteći mvedjedići Association, including the now legendary Čikolov, where people come out and remove a huge amount of non-degradable cigarette butts from the environment. Given that these actions are held every week throughout Croatia, if you like volunteering and to be in (cleaner) nature, contact us at [email protected] and let’s create a better world!
