Swimming in water temperatures of 41 degrees F and underneath, with air temperatures between 6.8 degrees F and -4 degrees F, sporting just a swimsuit, cap, and goggles may sound foolhardy to some. But this is precisely what four hundred athletes from 33 countries needed to endure inside the third biennial International Ice Swimming Championships, held in Murmansk, Russia, from March 14, 2019, to March 17, 2019.
The International Ice Swimming Association (IISA) organized the occasion in a 25-meter, ten-lane swimming pool created by carving out slabs of the two-foot thick floor layer of ice on Lake Semyonovskaya with chainsaws. Participants spent the primary day getting scientific examinations and accomplishing exercise swims to acclimate to the frigid water. The competitions began in earnest on March 15, 2019, with 52 swimmers vying for the coveted very last spots for the eight quickest guys and eight quickest ladies. In addition, swimmers also competed in the two hundred m freestyle, a hundred m breaststroke, 4×50 m freestyle relay, and the one thousand m freestyle sprint, which turned into open simplest to skilled ice swimmers.
As you guessed, extreme sport isn’t always for the faint of heart. Ice swimming can cause hypothermia and asthma, and after drop-pierced cooling of a swimmer’s core temperature at some point of the preliminary levels of rewarming, it can harm the coronary heart. Hence, even the most experienced athletes are cautiously monitored and medically examined earlier than before entering the water. In addition, each participant is assigned individual spotters to check for any troubles as they swim. Each occasion has a strict time limit, and competitors who aree still water are pulled out because of the chance of hypothermia.
Unlike regular swim competitions, members do now not dive in. Instead, they slowly immerse themselves into the water using ladders, allowing the body to get step-by-step conversant at low temperatures. Swimmers also need to stay horizontal within the water at all times and are forbidden to perform turn turns. That’s because, in cold water, the hotter blood acts in the middle of the body, protecting the organs from extreme temperatures. A turn flip may cause warm blood to move and endanger the organs.
Upon completing their race, swimmers are quickly ushered to a recuperation center, where specialists assist them in warming up by immersing their legs in cold water (hot water would be too drastic an alternate) and protecting their bodies with heated towels. Once their body temperature stabilizes, the swimmers settle down into a sauna or warm bathtub.
If you’re wondering why swimmers undergo this rigorous staying power test, Jonty Warneken, the sector’s first disabled person to complete an ice mile, has the answer.
“There are three motives why a whole lot of us do this. First, there’s the environmental project of swimming in the water beneath five tiers and swimming distance. The second reason is that we open water swimming because we adore being out in nature. And the 0.33 thing is that the camaraderie among the swimmers is excellent; it’s a notable organization to be part of.”
For Jade Perry, the British girls’ report holder for the quickest 1 km ice swim, it’s about the euphoria related to the sport. She says, “It’s terrific when you get in the water – you’re free. You’re not worrying about approximate paintings, or approximately your own home, or anything like that. You’re in the water, and you are simply thinking about swimming. After you get over the preliminary gasping and the preliminary ‘wow, this feels cold,’ it’s undoubtedly just first-rate.”
Ice swimming is currently only an area of interest sport, loved by way of some brave souls. However, Ram Barkai, a South African open water swimmer and the founding father of IISA, hopes to trade that and is attempting to convince Chinese officials to include it as a competitive event in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. While the ice swimmer persuaded the choice makers to come to the Murmansk Championships, there’s no word yet on whether he met with success.
