A Syrian refugee has told how he swam for seven hours from Turkey to Greece because he couldn't afford to pay smugglers to take him by boat.

Ameer Mehtr defied swirling currents, 3ft high waves and exhaustion to swim the eight kilometre stretch to reach Europe - and he says he's not the only one making the perilous journey this way.

His triumphant photo of his arrival on the Greek island of Samos quickly went viral after it was shared on the RefugeeSweden on Instagram.

Triumphant: Ameer swam for seven hours to reach the Greek island of Samos - he then had to trudge another seven and a half hours to the island's port

After his grueling swim, Ameer had to walk for seven and a half hours to get to the port, before trekking for a month to reach his final destination in Sweden.

'Every second of the way I thought I was going to die,' he told The Sunday Times, who he spoke to from an asylum centre in Sweden.

'But I kept going. I just kept looking at the cliffs in front of me and thinking 'Here is my future',' he said.

Ameer said he left Damascus after his friend was shot by a government sniper and his family home was destroyed in the fighting - wiping out the family finances.

An elite trained kickboxer, the young athlete has been going to the swimming pool since he was five years old.

'I was terrified to be drafted into the army: I did not want to go into death, and just because of who I am I was a danger to my family - in Syria, the regime sees all young men as a threat,' he told Swedish website DN.se

Once in Lebanon, he trained in the sea with his swimming instructor for months, and carefully planned the route he would take from Turkey to the Greek island.

Ameer trained for months off the coast of Beirut, Lebanon with his swimming instructor before attempting the 8 km crossing

But as he approached the beach, he was spotted by Turkish police who ran after him.

Desperate not to get caught, Ameer ran straight into the water and started swimming clad in trunks, swim cap and goggles and nose clip .

'We ran for an hour, I was so tired. But the police were coming so when I got to the sea I just started swimming,' he said.

Around his waist, he attached the small amount of personal possessions he could carry with him - some clothes, a couple of computer chips for his memories, his Syrian national team kickboxing kit and a telephone.

He even wrapped clingfilm around his arm to store ginger-flavoured dates for energy,

Danger: Syrian refugees are still paying hundreds of pounds to people smugglers to cross from Turkey to Greece, despite Turkey promising to crack down on the beaches

Cold: People aren't swimming across Ameer said, because it's too cold

But Ameer says he's not the only one attempting to make the hazardous crossing under their own steam.

'I'm far from the only one who has made this journey - there are many more who have been swimming

'We have a Facebook group and from my bed in Sweden, I have told several how to pack and how to think in order to make the transition.

'But right now, no one swims, it's too cold in the water,' he said.