Book excerpt: Martin Strel looks like your typical middle-aged bloke. He likes a laugh, a drink and the sight of a pretty woman. But put him in water and he turns into a swimming machine. In April 2007, after 66 days, he became the first person to swim the Amazon, 3,272 miles from the Peruvian Andes to the Atlantic shores of Brazil. This book tells his story. 2008.