Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

On February 10th 2021, Paul Georgescu set a world ice swimming record by swimming 3.55 km in 4.3°C water, officiated by Petar Stoychev in Complex Sportiv Snagov, Romania and ratified by the International Ice Swimming Association.

On March 28th, Leszek Naziemiec of the Silesia Winter Swimming and Ireneusz Kordylak of the Ice Swim Team organized an Ice Mile event in Bystrzyckie Lake, Zagórze, Poland. 31-year-old Krzysztof Kubiak pushed himself – really far in the 4.48°C water that was ratified by Ram Barkai of the International Ice Swimming Association. “His extreme swim covered 3,750 meters (2.3 miles) that took him 1 hour 4 minutes 30 seconds in Bystrzyckie Lake in Poland. The air temperature was 8.5°C and water conditions were clam and flat. The swim and the route were measured by our man in Poland Leszek Naziemiec. Time-keeping and organizing was managed by Łukasz Tkacz.

The route was constructed as a 250-meter loop between two buoys along  the lake shore. Krzysztof swam 15 loops; each loop required a short swim around the turn buoy. Krzysztof looked well during the entire swim. At the end, he swam to the shore, stood up and walked to put on his flip flops. His recovery was fairly quick and he was aware during the entire recovery. At no time did it look as if he is struggling or may require assistance. His pace was steady and reasonably fast averaging just over 17 minutes per kilometer.

He swam the first kilometer in 16 minutes 13 seconds; the second kilometer in 16 minutes 56 seconds; the third kilometer in 17 minutes 30 seconds; and the last 750 meters at 18 minutes 28 seconds per kilometer. He certainly started to slow down at the end, but it looked like he could have continued to swim if he wanted to.

Safety is such swims is paramount. Your mind takes over at some stage and carries you along. It is crucial to set all safety triggers and scenarios in place to step in when required and avoid any unnecessary crisis. Krzysztof’s 3750-meter swim is the new Ice Swim World record according to IISA rules.

Well done Krzysztof Kubiak and well-done Poland. Poland has very strong swimmers in the distance and The Ice. We can’t wait to see the ice swimming community at the International Ice Swimming Association 4^th World Championship in Katowice, Poland on February 4th – 6th 2022.”

In addition, four other swimmers completed an Ice Mile including Marek Rother in 24 minutes 14 seconds over 1625 meters, Anja Binder in 44 minutes 15 seconds over 1625 meters, Ireneusz Kordylak in 46 minutes 28 seconds over 1625 meters, Vladimir Vokhimov in 37 minutes 33 seconds over 1625 meters in a 250 meter loop course.

Top 10 Ice Swimming Distance Records

1. Krzysztof Kubiak (31, Poland) March 28th 2021, Bystrzyckie Lake, Poland: 3.75 km in 1:04:30.0 in 4.48°C lake water temperature + 8.5°C air temperature
2. Paul Eugen Dorin Georgescu (42, Romania) February 10th 2021, Snagov Lake, Romania: 3.50 km in 57:56.0 in 4.43°C lake water temperature + 15.0°C air temperature
3. Hamza Bakircioglu (48, Turkey) February 7th 2018, Sonthofersee, Sonthofen, Germany: 3.44 km in 1:08:00.0 in 4.13°C lake water temperature + 0.0°C air temperature
4. Jack Boyle (25, Ireland) February 21st 2016, Wild Water Armagh, Ireland: 3.32 km in 54:59.0 in 4.63°C pool water temperature + 8.0°C air temperature
5. Carmel Collins (41, Ireland) February 21st 2016, Wild Water, Armagh , Ireland: 3.30 km in 57:45.0 in 4.63°C pool water temperature + 8.0°C air temperature
6. Andrew Allum (46, Great Britain) February 9th 2015, Wycombe Rye Lido, High Wycombe, England: 2.99 km in 47:25.0 in 4.60°C open water temperature + 7.0°C air temperature
7. Henri Kaarma (46, Estonia) December 15th 2013, Tyumen, Russia: 2.40 km in 41:57.0 in 0.00°C open water temperature + 0.0°C air temperature
8. Paul Duffield (51, Canada) May 2nd 2013, Gellatly Bay, West Kelowna, Canada: 2.32 km in 54:02.0 in 4.00°C open water temperature + 0.0°C air temperature
9. Colleen Mallon (35, Ireland) August 29th 2020, Lake Crackenback, NSW, Australia: 2.32 km in 32:49.0 in 4.27°C lake water temperature + 4.4°C air temperature
10. Ram Barkai (63, South Africa) January 31st 2009, Lake Zurich, Switzerland: 2.30 km in 43:00.0 in 4.00°C lake water temperature + 0.0°C air temperature

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Steven Munatones

Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference.  He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984).  Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.

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