It is a uniquely touching, heart-wrenching, selfless, joyful, and above all, a story about love between a father and his child called RokOtok. Domagoj Jakopović, known as Ribafish, in honor of his only child, his son Rok who passed away in 2018 at the age of 12, swam across the entire Croatian Adriatic over six annual, specifically summer, stages. From Dubrovnik to Savudrija.

This immense feat is even more remarkable because Ribafish is not Veljko Rogošić, Michael Phelps, or Dina Levačić, but a middle-aged, bald, slightly overweight rocker and hedonist. A guy you won’t find at a trail race, adventure race, or marathon, but at a pub quiz in Hard Place with popcorn in one hand and a beer in the other. You won’t see him among the sect-like runners or Nordic walkers, but in the front row at a Supersuckers concert or tasting fine wine blends and craft beer.
The Best Father I’ve Ever Met

Ribafish is a freshman trapped in the body of a fifty-something-year-old, but above all, Ribafish is the best father I’ve ever met. I met him in person at the funeral of his child. Before that, I followed the adventures of him and his son Rok on Facebook. They seemed like a cool father and son, the kind of relationship I’d like to have with my own son if I ever have the luck to be blessed with one.

Later, when I did have a son, I once complained to Ribafish via messages that my wife and I couldn’t go anywhere because we didn’t have grandparents to help out. He immediately offered to babysit my son with Rok anytime and even laid out detailed plans for how they would entertain him. Sadly, we never got to realize this because tragedy struck.

It seemed that the tragedy had also ended the realization of Ribafish and Rok’s plan—or rather, the father’s promise to his son—to visit all inhabited Croatian islands. Of course, initially by ferries and boats. But then, in Rok’s room, there remained a half-colored map of Croatia with islands and places they had planned to visit together.

I also remember something else from the time I only knew Ribafish from Facebook. Every summer, he would post Rok’s list of 10 things he wanted to do with his father during the holidays. Every summer, “swimming at Proizd” was on the list.

That beautiful little island off the western coast of Korčula later became the place where Rok’s ashes were scattered. Afterward, his father set out to fulfill the promise he had made to his son. The two of them would traverse the entire Croatian Adriatic and visit all inhabited islands—because what is death compared to a father’s commitment to his child?

But Ribafish did not intend to do this by ferries and boats—he would swim. From island to island, from bay to bay. Against the winds, waves, and currents, against himself, his own limits, pain, doubts, and fears—swimming as much as 100 kilometers in a single month.

Despite enduring extreme, unimaginable effort and severe injuries (muscle tears, hernia surgery, constant shoulder pain), he achieved something hardly anyone believed was possible. And he didn’t “just” fulfill a promise to his son—in every single place he swam to, instead of deservedly resting, he dedicated himself to thousands of children who welcomed him.
A Lesson to All of Us Parents

He held lectures on ecology, cleaned beaches with them, and entertained them with geocaching. Most importantly, he emphasized the value of direct social interaction, contact, and hugs between children and parents, instead of the omnipresent, numbing, and destructive tyranny of screens and keyboards.

These were activities he and Rok used to share, and now these values will live not only in memories but also in the consciousness and actions of the children who welcomed the hero of this story during those summers. Ribafish lost his child, but through his swimming odyssey, he helped raise thousands of others.

Ribafish, along the way, taught a lesson to all of us parents—or more specifically, fathers. Being a good father in an era where you must juggle multiple jobs to pay off multiple loans—or simply survive—and during times of complete job insecurity while functioning under enormous stress and multitasking without any outside help, is seemingly impossible.

After everything he endured, Ribafish surely asks himself—more than the rest of us parents—where he went wrong and why he didn’t do more or do it better. But by planting his flag at Savudrija, he has earned the right not to ask that anymore. Because while many fathers say they would swim across seas for their children, Domagoj Jakopović, aka Ribafish, is the only one who actually did it.

SOURCE: www.index.hr, July 16, 2025.