Martin Strel, nicknamed the Fish Man, hopes to complete the 5,430km (3,375-mile) challenge in just 70 days.

According to the Metro, he already holds the records for being the only person to have swum the Danube's 3,020km length, the Mississippi's 3,798km and the Yangtze's 4,023km.

The 52-year-old starts his swim on Thursday near the Amazon's source in Atalaya, Peru.

Twenty people will follow him in boats, with buckets of blood to throw into the water to distract any predators, until he reaches the Atlantic at Belem in Brazil.

Medics will be on hand to monitor Mr Strel. Potential dangers he could come across include the toothpick fish – which swims up the penis, raises its spines and can then be removed only by surgery.

There is also the anaconda, the world's longest snake, which spends much of its time in water, not to mention remote tribes, malaria, dengue fever, rabies and yellow fever.

The Slovenian's attempt will be broadcast live online and recorded by a US film crew.

On his website, he says: 'I have said many times to myself and others that I'm going to swim that river or die trying – and I mean that quite literally.

'I could die in that river but that is not my intention. My intention is to swim through the rainforest to prove something.

'In 1963, Dr Martin Luther King had a dream that changed our world. I too have a dream. 'My dream is to swim the Amazon to prove to the world that nothing is surmountable.'

www.fishupdate.com is published by Special Publications. Special Publications also publish FISHupdate magazine, Fish Farmer, the Fish Industry Yearbook, the Scottish Seafood Processors Federation Diary, the Fish Farmer Handbook and a range of wallplanners.

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