Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

Question: How can you tell a venue is built for an ice swimming competition?

Answer: The ends of the pool where the swimmers start and finish are straight and vertical while sometimes the edges and sides of the pool take on all kinds of shapes due to the freezing temperature and snow.

Photo by Nuala Moore of the venue used at the inaugural Ice Swimming World Championship and 10th Russian Ice Swimming Championships in Semenovskoye Lake, Murmansk, Russia.

Copyright © 2015 by World Open Water Swimming Association