Courtesy of WOWSA, The Olympic Club, San Francisco, California.
Guts. Grit. Daring.
Those are only a few characteristics of ice swimmer Ger Kennedy that can describe one of the featured speakers at the upcoming WOWSA Talks & WOWSA Awards at The Olympic Club in San Francisco on November 9th – 11th. His talk is entitled Flight or Fight in the Ice.
The tough Irishman will explain in detail his preparations to swim 2 km in 0.5°C water and air temperatures of -15°C in Russia under the International Ice Swimming Association rules. “From my experience, knowing how difficult and painful the recovery is in 0°C water really challenges one’s mental strength and desire to push your limits or not.”
He will describe his fight-or-flight response on the day of his swim and how he handled the acute stress response and physiological reactions that occurred in response to the frigid conditions. He also will show a video on his re-warming recovery process and explain the requisite protocols that are taken to avoid serious injury or death as well as the after effects of his swim.
In addition to his Extreme Ice Mile 2 km, 10 Ice Miles, 6 Ice Kilometers* done since 2013 across Europe, North America, the Polar regions, Africa and Asia, he has done a Polar Ice Mile and two Ice Mile Zero and participated in the Tyumen Cup in Siberia, the Winter Swimming World Championships, the 1st World Ice Swimming Championships in Russia, the 2nd World Ice Swimming Championships in Germany, an Ice Kilometer in Lake Balea, Romania at an altitude of 2,040 meters and a number of other events from the UK to Latvia and Poland.
To meet and listen to Kennedy at the WOWSA Talks & WOWSA Awards, visit here.
Official Ice Miles by Ger Kennedy:
1st: February 2013 in Lough Dan, Co. Wicklow, Ireland in 3.3°C water, 1 mile in 40 minutes
2nd: February 2014 in Lough Dan, Co. Wicklow, Ireland in 3.3°C water, 1.02 miles in 37 minutes 5 seconds
3rd: March 2014 in Lough Dan, Co. Wicklow, Ireland in 3.3°C water, 1.3 miles in 51 minutes 10 seconds
4th: February 2015 in Grand Canal Dock, Dublin City, Ireland in 4.8°C water, 1 mile in 36 minutes 15 seconds
5th: January 2016 in Wild Water Armagh, Ireland in 0.77°C water, 1 mile in 32 minutes 30 seconds
6th: March 2017 in Mikkelvik Brygge, Norway in 2.53°C water, 1.0 mile in 34 minutes 5 seconds
7th: December 2017 in Tyumen, Siberia, Russia in 0.5°C water (with -18.80°C wind chill), 1.25 miles in 43 minutes 10 seconds
8th: January 2018 in Lake Ouiouane, Khenifra, Morocco in 3.77°C water, 1.04 miles in 37 minutes 10 seconds at 1630 meters above sea level
9th: February 2018 in M Street Beach, Boston, USA in 4.77°C water, 1 mile in 32 minutes 15 seconds
10th: March 2018 in Dublin, Ireland in 4.7°C water, 1.1 miles in 34 minutes 13 seconds
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