Boning bathes: The strange goings-on of comedian Wigald B.
Wigald Boning (56, Die Doofen) is unstoppable. For almost 500 days, he has been getting into the water to swim in all weathers. Nothing has been able to stop the comedian so far: In the Saale he dodged garden waste and sandwiches thrown into the water, at Berlin Central Station he avoided unfriendly bargemen and in the Alster he dodged rowing sports boats without rear-view mirrors.
He swam past the Weser stadium in Bremen and was probably the first person ever to swim in the rainwater retention basin at Hanover airport. On the day of Charles' coronation in London, Boning dived into the Thames to keep his streak alive. He has already swum in more than 90 different bodies of water.
Soon the 500th swimming day
Corona infection, fever and cold didn't stop him. If nothing comes up, next Sunday will be his 500th day of swimming without interruption. He has long since achieved his goal of going swimming for a year: "I'm in the freestyle."
But what drives him? "First of all, we moved to the Ammersee. I thought, you have to do something with this big, beautiful lake on your doorstep," says Boning in an interview with the German Press Agency.
He also swam away from an impending operation: "I had problems with a calcified shoulder and tried all kinds of therapies. And lo and behold, I was able to cure the shoulder completely by swimming in cold water - at least that's what my orthopaedist says."
"Water-shy landlubber"
He has now recorded the strange and dangerous things that have happened to him while swimming in a book ("Mr. Boning goes swimming").
As a water-shy landlubber, a career as a swimmer was not in his cradle, he reports in the book. Nevertheless, he finished in the top ten in a 24-hour swim in Bavaria. Then came the setback: during a crossing of Lake Constance, he needed 7 hours and 24 minutes and was crowned the unofficial "slow swimming world champion".
"As an athlete, I was very average in my youth, but I won the trophy for being the most diligent in training," says Boning. "Consistency, that's my quality."
He realized in Magdeburg that the project could not be called "Boning goes swimming": "I went into an old Elbe river. It got shallower and shallower until I landed on my stomach." He could also only bathe in the Gera river in Erfurt, but not swim.
Overcoming disgust
The most unpleasant swimming experience was "definitely" a coconut plantation in Thailand, where he was filming. "It was a musty cesspit. But I didn't let myself get carried away and swam a few meters." He can think of several nice swims: "A few mountain lakes were fantastic. Or the first time I dug my own ice hole in the Zillertal and then got in. That was something special."
It was also dangerous - in his familiar home lake of all places: "In thick fog, I lost my bearings in the Ammersee. If you don't know which direction to swim in, you don't have an infinite amount of time, depending on the water temperature." When an anchored motorboat emerged from the fog, "I knew where to go to shore again. I didn't really have fog as a source of danger on my list."
Boning dived under the ice cover of a frozen lake: "It's like surfing for breaststrokers. You have to be careful to always keep an eye on the opening in the ice. Anything else can lead to a nasty end."
Dangerous experiment
Warm water is also dangerous: "How hot can I swim? A completely moronic experiment, to which I can only say in retrospect: Don't do it! Thank God I passed out after a delay - not in water that was just over 40 degrees, but a few minutes later."
He had previously cycled every day for a good 200 days in 2014. The final stage was a crossing of the Alps on a folding bike: from Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Venice in 25 hours. Then he put on his running shoes: in 2021, he ran a marathon every week for a year. 52 times 42.2 kilometers. Sometimes in Crocs, sometimes pushing his seriously ill father in a wheelchair in front of him.
Orthopaedically, the marathons were the bigger challenge. "Something was always hurting. Swimming is much more comfortable for the body. You take the strain off it. All the aches and pains were blown away. But the mental strain of daily ice baths or winter swimming really got to me. Getting into three-degree water with a fever - you don't get enough enjoyment out of it."
Dispute with a swan
Another thing that got in the way of his swimming streak: "A swan in Lake Wörth that tried to stop me from getting into the water. I talked him into it, tried everything, in a friendly way, but also in a sharp tone. At some point, he got fed up with it and made way for me."
He had his definitive motivation low at the end of March: "The water was still five degrees cold and there was also cold rain. My dad had died, I was grieving and nothing could persuade me to get into the lake. So I used this Japanese sitting bathtub on the balcony once - and felt a little ashamed afterwards."
Wigald Boning, Herr Boning geht Baden, Gräfe und Unzer Verlag, 22 euros, 271 pages, ISBN 978-3-8338-9164-9
People have been fascinated by Wigald Boning's swimming streak, as Mr. Boning goes swimming in various bodies of water despite the challenges and dangers. His determination to continue swimming, even in freezing temperatures or when dealing with obstacles like swans, is truly noteworthy.
Source: www.dpa.com
