Of the 838 officially registered International Ice Swimming Association Ice Miles (see IISA database here), five swimmers stands alone.
31-year-old Krzysztof Gajewski of Poland [shown above], 32-year-old Krzysztof Kubiak of Poland, 42-year-old Paul Georgescu of Romania (@oceanpaulg), 45-year-old Hamza Bakircioglu of Turkey (@hamza.bakircioglu, shown below), 20-year-old Jack Boyle of Ireland, and 36-year-old Carmel Collins of Ireland are the only swimmers to have completed a Marathon Ice Swim.
They all have a remarkably unique ability to bear cold water for long durations of time and distance.
The International Ice Swimming Association defines a Marathon Ice Swim as swimming 3 miles or long in the water of 5.0C or lower under IISA Rules and IISA Marathon swimming rules.
Marathon Ice Swimmers in History
- Krzysztof Gajewski swam 6.0 km over 1 hour 46 minutes in 4.84°C water and 1.00°C air in a pool in a lake in Poland in 2023
- Krzysztof Kubiak swam 4.7 km over 1 hour 23 minutes in 3.87°C water and 2.9°C air in a lake in Poland in 2022
- Paul Georgescu swam 3.51 km over 57 minutes in 4.43°C water and 15°C air in Snagov Lake in Romania in 2021
- Hamza Bakircioglu swam 3.44 km over 1 hour 8 minutes in 4.13°C water and 0.0°C air in the sea in Germany in 2018
- Jack Boyle swam 3.32 km over 54 minutes in 4.63°C water and 8°C air in Wild Water Armagh in Ireland in 2016
- Carmel Collins swam 3.39 km over 57 minutes in 4.63°C water and 8°C air in Wild Water Armagh in Ireland in 2016
The Marathon Ice Swimmers have done plenty of other adventurous swims in open bodies of water, from marathon swims to the Oceans Seven. Georgescu explains in Romanian below about Polar Ice Mile in Antarctica below:
© 2024 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
“to educate, enthuse, and entertain all those who venture beyond the shoreline“
A World Open Water Swimming Federation project.