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Moldovan PM swims Bosphorus with son, calls it a promise kept
๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ด Romania /Culture & Society

Moldovan PM swims Bosphorus with son, calls it a promise kept

From Adevฤƒrul · () Romanian

Translated from Romanian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Context piece
  • Moldova's Prime Minister Vasile Tofan swam the Bosphorus Strait with his 14-year-old son, Aron, fulfilling a promise made before he took office.
  • The father and son completed the approximately 6.5-kilometer race from Asia to Europe, with Aron finishing faster than his father.
  • Tofan stated that fulfilling the promise was a personal obligation, and he was proud to see his son surpass him, returning to Moldova with renewed energy for upcoming work.

Moldova's Prime Minister Vasile Tofan recently fulfilled a personal promise by swimming the Bosphorus Strait with his 14-year-old son, Aron. The intercontinental race, an annual event in Istanbul, saw the father and son cover the roughly 6.5-kilometer distance from the Asian to the European continent.

In January, I promised my son that we would swim across the Bosphorus Strait together. He prepared for almost a year for this race, and I couldn't break my promise.

โ€” Vasile TofanPrime Minister of Moldova, Vasile Tofan, explaining his motivation for participating in the Bosphorus swim with his son.

Aron, who recently turned 14, had been preparing for the competition for nearly a year. Tofan had promised him in January that they would swim the strait together, a commitment he felt compelled to keep even after assuming the role of Prime Minister of Moldova. "I couldn't break my promise," Tofan wrote on Facebook, adding that his son was faster than him in the race. "Few things bring a parent more joy than seeing their child surpass them."

The prime minister acknowledged the irony of making the promise before knowing he would lead the government. "The problem is I didn't know that, in the meantime, I would become the Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, so now I have to keep my promise and, at the same time, ensure I get a good result so as not to shame my country," he stated.

My son was faster than me โ€“ and few things bring a parent more joy than seeing their child surpass them. We return to Chisinau with charged batteries and full hearts. Much work awaits us at home.

โ€” Vasile TofanPrime Minister of Moldova, Vasile Tofan, reflecting on his son's performance and their return to Moldova.

Aron completed the swim in one hour and 13 minutes, while Vasile Tofan finished in one hour and 42 minutes. The event attracted 2,500 swimmers from 78 countries. According to a government spokesperson, the prime minister, his family, and his accompanying team covered all participation costs from their own funds.

The problem is I didn't know that, in the meantime, I would become the Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, so now I have to keep my promise and, at the same time, ensure I get a good result, so as not to shame my country.

โ€” Vasile TofanPrime Minister of Moldova, Vasile Tofan, discussing the challenge of fulfilling his promise while in office.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Adevฤƒrul in Romanian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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