It began back in 2000 when SwimTrek’s founder Simon Murie was planning for his 30th birthday. He remembered as a boy growing up, reading about Byron’s crossing of the fabled Hellespont which divides Europe and Asia in north-west Turkey. It was made famous in Greek mythology by Leander’s nightly swims to his lover Hero. She would hold out a torch to guide Leander’s way. In the early morning he would swim back across the strait.