Several ice swimmers including those from Finland’s Winter World Swimming Championships and several of the swimmers who participated in the renowned Bering Strait Swim gathered in Cork, Ireland at the 2013 Global Open Water Swimming Conference.

Ram Barkai, Anne Marie Ward, Nuala Moore, and Jackie Cobell were among the 66 swimmers from 17 countries and 15 republics in Russia who took part in the Bering Strait Swim.

Organized by the Ministry of Defence and an envoy from President Putin office, the high-level cooperation enabled by both the Russian and American sides were essential for the success of the event. “This was important because the swim went over the date of the permit and the Russians were allowed a few extra days in America as well as the presence of a Russian hospital ship,” recalls Nuala Moore.

Photography by Ray Terry includes Blokhin Dmitry.

Copyright © 2013 by Open Water Swimming