On Day 1 of the IISA 6th World Championship in Molveno, Italy, 29-year-old Alisa Fatum-Böker of Germany comfortably defended her world title with a swift 6:09.58, just off her world record set last year.

Two young up-and-coming athletes, 20-year-old Emilia Finer of New Zealand and 18-year-old Jessika Robson of Ireland also captured podium positions in the cold night air of Molveno.

Fatum-Böker’s victory preceded her German teammate’s similar victory over the men’s 500m field. Andreas Waschburger won in 5:41.97, but Fatum-Böker’s time of 6:09.58 was especially impressive as she would have captured third place overall among the top men with her time. The duo repeated their victories in the 500m freestyle at the IISA 5th World Championship.

500m Freestyle Women’s Top 10 Results

1. Alisa Fatum-Böker (Germany, 29, IISA bio here) 6:09.58
2. Emilia Finer (New Zealand, 20, IISA bio here) 6:18.08
3. Jessika Robson (Great Britain, 18, IISA bio here) 6:34.93
4. Karolina Szalast (Poland, 19, IISA bio here) 6:48.90
5. Ines Hahn (Germany, 33, IISA bio here) 6:52.86
6. Sarka Landsmannova (Czech Republic, 49, IISA bio here) 6:58.49
7. Marion Joffle (France, 25, IISA bio here) 7:00.30
8. Tiffany Pierrejean (France, 21, IISA bio here) 7:00.33
9. Katie Irving (Great Britain, 32, IISA bio here) 7:01.45
10. Marie Therese Bartl (Germany, 18, IISA bio here) 7:01.80

In the preliminary heats, the following age group world records were set:

• Inge Wolfs (Denmark, IISA bio here) 9:05.55
• Sarka Landsmannova (Czech Republic, 49, IISA bio here) 6:58.49
• Emilia Finer (New Zealand, 20, IISA bio here) 6:18.08

Watch continued live coverage of the IISA 6th World Championship here, organized by Ice Swimming Hall of Fame Honor Swimmer  Paolo Chiarino (@paolochiarino).

To say it is cold is clearly an understatement with the night air temperature at -1.1°C and the fresh water in the pool at 2.0°C where the ice shards need to be removed from the pool before the swimmers can compete. But that is not stopping the 754 athletes representing 48 countries around the world from enjoying the uplifting vibes and challenging themselves at the world championship.

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