Not all cats hate water! People have known for a long time that jaguars are good swimmers. But these large wild cats usually take just short dips to look for prey. The previous jaguar swimming record had been only about 650 feet. That’s halfway around a running track. Now, a jaguar in Brazil may have swum up to at least 8,000 feet. That’s more than six laps around a track!

A wildlife camera first recorded the feline swimmer near the edge of a lake. Then, four years later, another camera recorded the same jaguar on a small island in the middle of the lake. The only way to get there? By swimming! The jaguar may have found a place to rest midway. Or he may have made it to the island in one trip. Either way, he set a new record. Scientists knew there was plenty of prey available back on the mainland. So they think maybe he was just exploring—or perhaps training for the cat-lympics?