--- title: Man Swims to Work Every Day to avoid traffic description: Benjamin David got fed up with driving to work, so he started commuting by swimming canonical: https://time.com/4878199/man-swims-to-work/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-28T18:19:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:45:59.278Z og:title: This German Man Swims to Work Every Day og:description: Benjamin David got fed up with driving to work, so he started swimming instead og:url: https://time.com/4878199/man-swims-to-work/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f0c059f173c197e/6988d796096a94860469ef19/gettyimages-807651102-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2953 og:image:height: 1661 og:image:alt: Benjamin David, Munich's Isar Commuter og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This German Man Swims to Work Every Day twitter:description: Benjamin David got fed up with driving to work, so he started swimming instead twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f0c059f173c197e/6988d796096a94860469ef19/gettyimages-807651102-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Traffic-Avoidant Man Who Swims to Work Every Day Is Your New Career Guru > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jul 28, 2017 6:19 PM UTC  Benjamin David swims in the Isar river. Benjamin David swims in the Isar river. Barcroft Media/Getty Images by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jul 28, 2017 6:19 PM UTC When Benjamin David commutes to work, he doesn’t drive or bike or take public transportation—he swims. David starts each morning by packing his suit, shoes, and laptop into waterproof bag, putting on a swimsuit or wetsuit and rubber sandals, and then jumping into the Isar River, reports the [_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20170724-the-man-who-swims-to-work). He told the _BBC_ that he was frustrated by the traffic surrounding his hometown of Munich, Germany and realized that it would be much faster for him [to swim](http://time.com/4864457/michael-phelps-races-shark/?iid=sr-link1) the 1.2 miles to work. “The traffic on the road next to the Isar is so wild that it is no fun,” he tells the [_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20170724-the-man-who-swims-to-work). “When I’m [swimming](http://time.com/4860215/payson-arizona-deadly-flash-flood-cold-springs/?iid=sr-link6), I am indeed quicker and also more relaxed.” To get to work in style, David stores his work clothes and computer in a specially designed waterproof sack that also doubles as a flotation device. Having something to hold on to while he swims is helpful, because people frequently try to talk to him about his commute, while he is making his way down the river. “People look down from the bridges and laugh or ask what I’m doing,” he says, adding that the Isar was used as a waterway for 150 years and he’s just trying to bring it back. When he reaches his destination, he emerges from the river, and, naturally, goes to order a cappuccino, because while he may [swim](http://time.com/4864457/michael-phelps-races-shark/?iid=sr-link7) to work, he still has to put in a full day at the office. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4878199/man-swims-to-work/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4878199/man-swims-to-work/"},"headline":"Traffic-Avoidant Man Who Swims to Work Every Day Is Your New Career Guru","datePublished":"2017-07-28T18:19:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:45:59.278Z","description":"Why commute on the bus when you can swim down the river?","url":"https://time.com/4878199/man-swims-to-work/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Work","viral","Bizarre","Travel","commuting","People"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f0c059f173c197e/6988d796096a94860469ef19/gettyimages-807651102-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f0c059f173c197e/6988d796096a94860469ef19/gettyimages-807651102-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Benjamin David, Munich's Isar Commuter","caption":"Benjamin David, Munich's Isar Commuter","creditText":"Barcroft Media/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4878199/man-swims-to-work/","name":"Traffic-Avoidant Man Who Swims to Work Every Day Is Your New Career Guru"}}]}] ```