The swimmer, who lives on Krk, has closed another gap on his personal Adriatic map. The reported distance was slightly more than six kilometres – the next planned stage would be about three times as long.
A route between islands, not simply six kilometres along a beach
Mate Zrilić swam from Pag to Rab on 24 August 2026. The report gives a distance of slightly more than six kilometres and a time of two hours and 45 minutes. Zrilić comes from the Benkovac area and now lives on Krk.
Neither exact start and finish coordinates nor a GPS track were published. Golden Beach therefore does not draw a supposedly precise route. ‘Pag to Rab’ describes the completed island crossing; the exact line through the water remains part of the documented undertaking.
Zrilić is building a personal map of the northern Adriatic
The swim is part of his goal to connect the major islands and the Istrian peninsula through individual open-water stages. The original report lists Rabac–Cres, Krk–Cres, Poreč–Rovinj and Rab–Krk as earlier crossings, with distances of approximately 10 to 23 kilometres.
This is not an official route network or an organised series with fixed rules. It is a personal sporting project that acquires a coherent story only through the sequence of individual crossings.
Time and distance reveal little about the actual strain
The reported figures produce a calculated average of approximately 2.2 kilometres per hour. That number is only a rough relationship: current, wind, waves, course corrections and the actual GPS distance can greatly change the effort involved.
Even a seemingly short direct distance between islands must not be confused with a protected swimming lane. Open water adds boat traffic, visibility and changing weather. Without a track, measurement method and operational record, any finer performance analysis would be invented.
The report names helpers, but not a complete safety protocol
Zrilić thanked David Hrabrić and Pero from Rab for their support. The published text does not explain what tasks they performed, what boat was used or how communication, nutrition or emergency termination were organised.
The Golden Beach cover image therefore shows an accompanying boat as a general editorial safety motif, not as a reconstruction. A successful outcome must not be used retrospectively to claim a specific sequence that the source does not document.
Open-water project · 24 August 2026
Another point on the island map
Pag–Cres would be the substantially larger next gap
The report names Pag–Cres as the next stage, at approximately 20 kilometres. Compared with the distance now reported, that would be about three times as long. It is a plan, not a firmly announced public date and certainly not an achievement already completed.
Before such a crossing, training status, weather window, support arrangements, permissions and maritime traffic may all need to be reassessed. Golden Beach therefore sets no date and does not turn the goal into a spectator event.
Why this story is not a swimming route for holidaymakers
The Croatian Red Cross advises recreational swimmers to stay with company and close to shore, follow lifeguard instructions and avoid unfamiliar bathing areas. An organised long-distance crossing is fundamentally different from spontaneously swimming out from a beach.
Anyone who sees an opposite shore from a beach on Pag or Rab can easily underestimate distance and conditions. Visibility from land does not replace support, and a straight line drawn on a phone accounts for neither traffic nor current.
Accompanying boats must consider both swimmer and other traffic
At sea, a swimmer's needs meet the rules of navigation. A support vessel must protect the athlete without creating a new hazard for other boats. Position, visual signals, radio or telephone and a clear termination plan belong in experienced hands.
Croatia's transport ministry provides weather, safety and emergency information through the Nautical Information Service, nIS. The app does not replace professional planning, but can make contact with harbour authorities and rescue services easier for people on and near the sea.
The achievement lies in the next connected point
The reliable core remains deliberately narrow: slightly more than six kilometres, two hours and 45 minutes, another island crossing in a personal project. This restraint does not diminish the achievement; it separates what was completed from an embellished heroic story.
Whether and when Pag–Cres follows will be shown only by new confirmation. Until then, Pag–Rab represents another point on Zrilić's swimming map of the Adriatic – and the help of the people involved behind the scenes in such an undertaking.
Evidence
Sources & date
Sources support the facts. Planning notes and recommendations are Golden Beach editorial assessments.
- Plivao od Paga do Raba! Mate Zrilić ostvario novi plivački pothvat, a sada sprema posebno zahtjevnu dionicuNovi list · 25 August 2026, checked 26 August 2026date, reported distance and time, origin and residence, earlier stages, thanks to helpers and planned Pag–Cres route
- Naučite Kodeks sigurnosti na vodi i uživajte odgovornoCroatian Red Cross · 18 July 2025, checked 26 August 2026general advice on company, staying near shore, supervised bathing areas and conduct in emergencies
- Nautički informacijski servis – nISCroatian Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure · ongoing service, checked 26 August 2026purpose of the nIS app, safety and weather information and contacts for harbour and rescue services
