Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

One of the world’s newest governing body – the Lake Issyk Kul Swimming Federation – was recently established by IronMike in eastern Kyrgyzstan. He and his colleagues attempt, plan and envision a variety of lake swims across Kyrgyzstan’s Issyk Kul in the northern Tian Shan mountains.

The lake is the tenth largest lake in the world by volume and the second largest saline lake after the Caspian Sea. Although it is surrounded by snow-capped peaks, it never freezes.

The shortest recognized lake crossing is 13.15 km (8.17 miles) between the villages of Kara-Talaa in the south and Toru-Aygyr in the north.

The second crossing is 17.05 km (10.6 miles) along the northern shore.

The third crossing is 32.94 km (20.47 miles) that was pioneered by Akhmed Anarbaev, a 1968 Olympian representing the U.S.S.R., who completed the route between the villages of Ananyevo and Kyzyl-Suu in 1982 in 10 hours 42 minutes.

The fourth crossing is 60.28 km (38.46 miles) that Anarbaev attempted solo in 1985, but was unsuccessful. He later formed a 4-person relay and in 1991 they completed this crossing in a time of 18 hours 0 minutes.



Copyright © 2015 by World Open Water Swimming Association