The all-around individual medley specialists had their day in the cold today at the IISA 6th World Championship in Molveno, Italy. 20-year-old Emilia Finer came from Down Under to comfortably win a world title with a swift 2:38.55, dropping her best time and resetting her own world record set last year in her native New Zealand (in 2:40.21).
Four very active teenagers who have been swimming multiple event following the New Zealand star, 17-year-old Ezmee Jones of the USA, 15-year-old Heidi Winter and her 18-year-old sister Sophie Winter, and 19-year-old Karolina Szalast of Poland.
Team New Zealand took first, third, and fourth in this race, dominating a single event like no other country at the Championship. The Frozen Ferns, the New Zealand national ice swimming team, is proving to be quite a new force in the open water swimming world. For more information on the Frozen Ferns, visit frozenferns.co.nz where Finer describes her love of swimming at an early age and now has found her place among the ice swimming elite.
Finer’s time of 2:38.55 was very impressive as she would have captured 79h place overall among the top men with her new world record time.
200m Individual Medley Women’s Top 8 Results
- Emilia Finer (New Zealand, 20, IISA bio here) 2:38.55
- Ezmee Jones (USA, 17, IISA bio here) 2:41.49
- Heidi Winter (New Zealand, 15, IISA bio here) 2:46.07
- Sophie Winter (New Zealand, 18, IISA bio here) 2:51.83
- Karolina Szalast (Poland, 19, IISA bio here) 2:52.29
- Bengisu Avci (Turkey, 28, IISA bio here) 2:52.77
- Tiffany Pierrejean (France, 21, IISA bio here) 2:55.40
- Sarka Landsmannova (Czech Republic, 49, IISA bio here) 2:55.46
The following swimmers set age group world records during the 200m IM:
- Qing Li (USA, 34, IISA bio here) 3:10.47
- Heidi Winter (New Zealand, 15, IISA bio here) 2:46.07
- Bengisu Avci (Turkey, 28, IISA bio here) 2:52.77
- Sarah Anne Richter (Germany, 47, IISA bio here) 2:57.41
- Katie Irving (Great Britain, 32, IISA bio here) 2:57.68
- Marcelle Stiemens (South Africa, 57, IISA bio here) 3:12.73
Many athletes are doubling and tripling up – and more – during the competition. 17-year-old Ezmee Jones had a very challenging evening tonight with finals in the 50m backstroke (silver medal), the 250m freestyle (fourth), then she raced on the USA 4×50 mixed medley relay (fifth)…all within an hour.
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 between 1.8°C and 2.0°C where the ice shards need to be removed from the pool before the 754 swimmers from 48 countries can compete.
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