March the 21st, 2025 – Well known Croatian travel writer Goran Subašić, known as Veliki Gogo, has decided to go for a dip in Antarctica. It’s certainly a few degrees cooler than the Croatian Adriatic.
As Morski/Jurica Gasparic writes, there isn’t much that Croatian travel writer Veliki Gogo hasn’t tried his hand at yet. He’s climbed the Himalayas in jeans, gone down below the depths in a cage with sharks, and appeared on every continent, except (until now, that is) Antarctica. Now, he’s gone and done that too. He didn’t want to stop there, either, he just had to go swimming.
When he’s not playing with his band Fenix in Šibenik and the surrounding areas, Croatian travel writer Veliki Gogo attends quiz shows in pubs and on TV. When he’s not doing that either, he travels around the world.
“Now I know very well why the sea around Antarctica is the most dangerous in the world,” Croatian travel writer Veliki Gogo revealed after having taken a dip in those icy waters.
“Sea temperature -0.5 °C, number of entries: 2 (because once isn’t enough), penis size: 1.5 cm,” he said in a somewhat humorous tone before continued to describe his venture into the Antarctic waters.
“I spent ten days in total there. First, you’ve got to sail through the Beagle Channel and then through the Drake Passage. That’s almost 1000 kilometres of wide open sea. Then you get to Antarctica, and that passage is known for being the most dangerous point for sailing in the world – and now I understand why. After two and a half days of sailing through waves of 4 to 6 metres in height (in the passage itself, the waves sometimes reach the double digits), I finally reached Antarctica, pretty shaken up and sleepless. I’ll return by the same route. It’s known that the Drake Passage discourages many people from going to Antarctica, and the only alternative is to fly a military plane, and only the rich can afford something like that. Besides, I consider that cheating, if you don’t pass through the Drake Passage, it’s just not the same,” Croatian travel writer Veliki Gogo revealed.
“Before you actually get in the water, you feel like a complete idiot, thinking why on Earth am I doing this? Then you do it again because that’s the true definition of a real fool!” he continued.”
“I’ve really got no idea if I’m the first Croat to swim in Antarctica. I can’t say because I don’t know, but I’m almost certain that I’m the first person from Šibenik to have visited all seven continents. Maybe there’s a sailor who sails there,” said Croatian travel writer Veliki Gogo, who isn’t returning home just yet.
“I’m going to be here until mid-April – now I have mountain climbs and trekking ahead of me… everyone is talking about swimming in Antarctica, but this will be immeasurably more difficult and demanding for me,” he said enigmatically.
It’s worth noting that back in January, former Minister of Defence Ante Kotromanović also conquered the highest Antarctic peak. Not to belittle that enormous feat, but he did it with all the possible logistical help, while Veliki Gogo has been struggling with Crohn’s disease for years and his doctor even advised him not to travel. The travel addict didn’t listen, however.
