ICE - That's all (for now) Folks
Two weeks ago I swam the Ice KM (1,000 meters freestyle in waters of 0 degrees with no wetsuit) in the World Championships / Arctic Cup in Murmansk, Russia, and I concluded the Ice Swimming season 2018/19, with quite a number of achievements:
- (Nov'18) Ice KM in Antarctica (first race ever in the 7th Continent): 3rd position overall - video.
- (Feb'19) Memphre Winter Festival: 3rd position in the 200 Free (longest distance offered) - video.
- (Mar'19) Ice KM in the Arctic (World Championships): 11th overall and 1st 35-39M, with the best time to date for a Spaniard - or American (14'23'') - video.
The low of the season was the failed attempt to complete an Ice Mile in New York City. Conditions were actually great, with a sunny day, almost no wind and waters just around 4C in Brighton Beach. However, I felt some current push against me and didn't want to push too much a week before Russia, so I decided to abort it. It is all part of the experience, and I am now glad I did. The video is here.
At the end of the day, I am not an Ice Swimmer by birth, and I had never tried waters below 15C until very recently (just 15 months ago!). It has been a great learning experience and I really enjoy the vibe, but I think I will leave my fingers rest a little bit. Much has been written about the long term benefits of the cold water, but the recovery after a swim like this is not easy at all. You can check my state during the recovery in Antarctica (here) and in the Arctic (here).
This is probably not the end of my Ice Swimming career, especially if they end up being part of the Winter Olympics in Beijing'22, but now it's time to come back to Marathon Swimming, with a new project I have been mulling for a while now. Stay tuned as I will unveil it in just a few days. Happy swimming!
- (Nov'18) Ice KM in Antarctica (first race ever in the 7th Continent): 3rd position overall - video.
- (Feb'19) Memphre Winter Festival: 3rd position in the 200 Free (longest distance offered) - video.
- (Mar'19) Ice KM in the Arctic (World Championships): 11th overall and 1st 35-39M, with the best time to date for a Spaniard - or American (14'23'') - video.
The low of the season was the failed attempt to complete an Ice Mile in New York City. Conditions were actually great, with a sunny day, almost no wind and waters just around 4C in Brighton Beach. However, I felt some current push against me and didn't want to push too much a week before Russia, so I decided to abort it. It is all part of the experience, and I am now glad I did. The video is here.
At the end of the day, I am not an Ice Swimmer by birth, and I had never tried waters below 15C until very recently (just 15 months ago!). It has been a great learning experience and I really enjoy the vibe, but I think I will leave my fingers rest a little bit. Much has been written about the long term benefits of the cold water, but the recovery after a swim like this is not easy at all. You can check my state during the recovery in Antarctica (here) and in the Arctic (here).
This is probably not the end of my Ice Swimming career, especially if they end up being part of the Winter Olympics in Beijing'22, but now it's time to come back to Marathon Swimming, with a new project I have been mulling for a while now. Stay tuned as I will unveil it in just a few days. Happy swimming!
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| Colder than it looks |
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