Admin December 20, 2011, 11:27 pm h.
Two weeks ago I promised new content only for technical problems to put a temporary stop to that. Well, thats the neccessary evil that is computers. However, just 10 years ago this kind of communication was in its infancy. These days winter swimmers are able to communicate with each other from many places around the world. Three days ago, here in the Czech Republic we swam down the Dyje river to Austria while some other winters wimmers from Prague navigated an amazing 5.1km in 2 hours down the Vltava river.
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Admin December 7, 2011, 1:59 pm h.
Usually held a week later, this year the contest had been moved back after the the early onset of winter in 2010 led to the contest being cancelled for technoical reasons – namely unsafe/unworkable ice conditions. No danger of that this year with air temperatures so faronly negative through the night. However, the wind was blowing and the water temperature was officially recorded at 3.7c although it was reported as low as 3.2c in a place.
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Admin December 4, 2011, 2:43 pm h.
I suppose by now most of you know that the author of this blog is me, Jack Bright. The last few months have been pretty busy and I have lots of articles, photos and videos pending, especially from my recent trip to Alaska in preparation for next years relay swim across the Bering Strait.
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Admin November 27, 2011, 9:08 am h.
Sometimes in sport puzzling things happen. Cricket is a good example where a match can be decided by “the duckworth-lewis method” if rain interrupts play. To a lesser extent in football a team leading by 2 goals in the second leg of a cup competition may resort to extreme defensive tactics to preserve their lead. A more abstract yet common example would be snooker where players avoid easy pots opting for ”safety” in a long term strategy.
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Admin November 25, 2011, 11:21 pm h.
From January 20th – 22nd Jurmala in Latvia will host the world winter swimming championships.
A beautiful location on the baltic sea coast and just a short distance from Riga international airport it is sure to be a bone chillingly exciting 3 days with a variety of disciplines on offer from just a dip in the pool to a 450m endurance swim for those participants that have the relevant ice water experience to attemp such a swim. It will be cold, with water temperature probably just above freezing.
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Admin November 19, 2011, 10:26 am h.
More in depth articles and media to follow concerning this Alaska trip but for now here is a short piece from US news channel KTVA.
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Admin November 9, 2011, 2:43 pm h.
Last year after an early autumn snowfall in the Czech/Moravian highlands the water in the Pavov swimming pond near Jihlava had colled to 5.4c and an awful gale was blowing. It was a soothing thought for the psyche when preparing to face the same pond this year with a temperature of 7.5c. No sign of any gales, just a pleasant autumnal day, the bright colours of the trees in stark contrast to the dull water of the pond making a nice scene.
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Admin November 2, 2011, 12:44 pm h.
As the autumn takes hold, cooling the open water, those who continue swimming are looking forward to the resumption of the tussle between man and nature that is winter swimming.
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Admin October 31, 2011, 4:16 pm h.
Long distance open water swimming takes place during the summer months with an average water temperature of 18-22c. Occasionally the water temperature can drop in a smaller body of water after a period of cold weather or heavy rainfall. 16c is quite cold when the swimmer has been in the water for 2 hours. Hence one of the difficulties that swimming across the English channel presents is upwards of 10 hours in 16/17c water. FINA, the governing body actually doesn’t allow competitions when the water drops below 15c.
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Admin October 26, 2011, 9:43 am h.
South Africans Ram Barkai and Andrew Chin have been pushing the boundaries of extreme cold water swimming for several years having swum in various places including Antarctica. After a stamina sapping 43 minute (2.3km) swim in 4c Lake Zurich in 2009 Barkai stated
“That was an experience that gave me a sight of the end of The envelope. I decided I want to explore these types of swims, how far, how long, how cold, etc… and The best way was to formalize it, establish a formal body to regulate these swims and from that spread The word and share The experience of every ice swimmer around The world.”
Consequently, the international ice swimming asssociation was born. In the words of Barkai the aims of the association are
“To understand ice swimming better. Its impact on the human body. The role of the human mind in the process and to formalise ice swims around The world. Gain experience from everyone around The world.”
A positive development for extreme cold water swimming, who knows, perhaps in the future winter swimming could be a part of the winter olympics?
Ram Barkai
