Aleksandra Kabelis (32, Poland, IISA bio here, @aleksandra.kabelis) and Piotr Biankowski (50, Poland, IISA bio here, @piotrbiankowski) reported on the 7th Gdynia Winter Swimming Cup (@gwscgdynia) held on January 24th – 25th in the Gdynia Marina in Poland. “The event was part of the International Winter Swimming Association World Cup and served as the International Polish Championships. The World Cup event brought together nearly 280 athletes from 19 countries. The athletes came from all over Europe as well as Chile, Argentina, and Australia.

The water temperature in the Gdynia Marina reached –0.35°C, the lowest water temperature recorded in the seven-year history of the GWSC event.“

The competition was conducted in a 25-meter pool, specially carved out for the championships in the Gdynia Yacht Port. It took three days to cut the ice with mechanical saws where the technical operations were carried out by the OSP RW Gdynia rescue group and the ice was removed by an excavator provided by the event partner TOREX & Olivia.

In addition to the standard World Cup races that ranged from 25 meters to 450 meters, the 1 km Baltic Cold Beast and a 25 meter fun swim were held.

In connection with the launch of celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the City of Gdynia, the organizers awarded two special Gdynia titles:

• 100 Years of Gdynia 100m freestyle title was won by Andrea Klementová from the Czech Republic and Konrad Karnaszewski of Poland.
• 100 Years of Gdynia relay title was won by GÓRAL SWIM consisting of liona Saladhukina, Michał Pisański, Kamil Ziemianin, and Daniel Szotkowski.
• Bulgarian Tsanko Tsankov won the 1 km Baltic Cold Beast race for the second year in a row.
• The AQUA-SPEED ICE Neptun Gdańsk relay team became the youngest relay team in the history of Gdynia Winter Swimming Cup.
• During the event, free preventive ultrasound examinations for children aged 9 months to 6 years were conducted in the Ronald McDonald Foundation Mobile Ambulance, located within the event village. 80 children from the Pomeranian Voivodeship benefited from the examinations. The screenings were financed by the event organizers thanks to a charity fundraising campaign held during Piotr Biankowski’s swimming crossing of the Beltquerung Strait between Denmark and Germany. Both Kabelis and Biankowski serve as ambassadors of the Ronald McDonald Foundation.

Honorary patronage of the event was granted by: Aleksandra Kosiorek, Mayor of Gdynia, Mieczysław Struk, Marshal of the Pomeranian Voivodeship and Rafał Siemaszko, Member of the Polish Parliament.

Partners and sponsors included AQUA-SPEED, PKS Gdynia, Ronald McDonald Foundation, FS Firma Sikora, Bureau Veritas Polska, Garmin Polska, JJ Dabroven, Tent, Hotel Kuracyjny, RUBO Group, PitBull City, PGZ Grupa Wojenna, Lubiński Resort, TOREX, Łączpol, Farm Frites, Junga Sailing School, BCT Gdynia, Dryrobe, and KOMA Usługi Komunalne.

Baltic Cold Beast Swimmers in History

• Hania Bakuniak on 19 February 2021 in 0.04°C water and 0.9°C in 14:48.31 and on 8 January 2022 in 2.4°C water and 0°C in 13:50.66
• Victoria Lewandowska on 19 February 021 in 0.04°C water and 0.9°C in 19:01.68
• Marek Rother on 19 February 2021 in 0.04°C water and 0.9°C in 14:24.44
• Krzysztof Kubiak on 19 February 2021 in 0.04°C water and 0.9°C in 15:28.25 and on 8 January 2022 in 2.4°C water and 0°C in 15:16.55
• Piotr Biankowski on 19 February 2021 in 0.04°C water and 0.9°C in 16:13.80 and on 8 January 2022 in 2.4°C water and 0°C in 16:08.67
• Jarosław Dziubałka on 19 February 2021 in 0.04°C water and 0.9°C in 20:18.95 and on 8 January 2022 in 2.4°C water and 0°C in 18:18.59
• Marcin Łaszkiewicz on 19 February 2021 in 0.04°C water and 0.9°C in 22:57.65 and on 8 January 2022 in 2.4°C water and 0°C in 20:14.19
• Izabela Babica on 8 January 2022 in 2.4°C water and 0°C in 17:24.37
• Monika Wilk on 8 January 2022 in 2.4°C water and 0°C in 18:56.43
• Tatiana Korona on 8 January 2022 in 2.4°C water and 0°C in 20:58.06
• Sabina Koj on 8 January 2022 in 2.4°C water and 0°C in 23:09.58
• Marcin Szarpak on 8 January 2022 in 2.4°C water and 0°C in 12:30.03
• Bartholomew Kubkowski on 8 January 2022 in 2.4°C water and 0°C in 13:06.83
• Christof Wandratsch on 8 January 2022 in 2.4°C water and 0°C in 13:37.98
• Piotr Konopacki on 8 January 2022 in 2.4°C water and 0°C in 15:12.16
• Tomasz Lutkowski on 8 January 2022 in 2.4°C water and 0°C in 16:33.15
• Lars Mack on 8 January 2022 in 2.4°C water and 0°C in 16:35.65
• Gerald Daringer on 8 January 2022 in 2.4°C water and 0°C in 16:47.37
• Leszek Zawadzki on 8 January 2022 in 2.4°C water and 0°C in 17:01.58 and on 25 January 2026 in -0.35°C water in 17:51.99
• Krzysztof Kalinowski on 8 January 2022 in 2.4°C water and 0°C in 18:11.19
• Leszek the Nazi on 8 January 2022 in 2.4°C water and 0°C in 19:52.70
• Jacek Winiarczyk on 8 January 2022 in 2.4°C water and 0°C in 19:52.77
• Daniel Mikołajczyk on 8 January 2022 in 2.4°C water and 0°C in 20:12.39
• Artur Deer on 8 January 2022 in 2.4°C water and 0°C in 21:15.21
• Michał Włodarczyk on 8 January 2022 in 2.4°C water and 0°C in 21:33.96
• Krzysztof Pilarski on 8 January 2022 in 2.4°C water and 0°C in 23:18.87
• Sebastian Mazurek on 8 January 2022 in 2.4°C water and 0°C in 24:29.44
• Bartosz Gierwatowski on 25 January 2026 in -0.35°C water in 24:50.55
• Borys Kania on 25 January 2026 in -0.35°C water in 15:06.42
• Neil Curtis on 25 January 2026 in -0.35°C water in 18:21.05
• Piotr Mikołajczyk on 25 January 2026 in -0.35°C water in 20:58;07
• Przemysław Lis-Piwowarski on 25 January 2026 in -0.35°C water in 24:38.87
• Tsanko Tsankov on 25 January 2026 in -0.35°C water in 12:56.92
• Catherine Pendleton on 25 January 2026 in -0.35°C water in 22:15.00
• Dorota Pogoda on 25 January 2026 in -0.35°C water in 18:48.75
• Karen Mee on 25 January 2026 in -0.35°C water in 19:50.61
• Karolina Szalast on 25 January 2026 in -0.35°C water in 14:25.31
• Kyarha Carpo on 25 January 2026 in -0.35°C water in 20:11.05
• Maria Kowalczyk on 25 January 2026 in -0.35°C water in 19:24.65
• Sabina Koj on 25 January 2026 in -0.35°C water in 19:38.46

For more information and full results, visit www.gwsc.pl.

© 2026 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

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