International Ice Swimming Association’s founder Ram Barkai will make a special announcement at the Global Open Water Swimming Conference in New York City.

The two-race event – a 600-meter endurance swim a 1-mile ice swim in a loop course in water temperature that must be 5°C (41°F) or below to be official – will make its debut in the United States in February 2012.

“The main logistics during the race is to manage risk,” explained Ram about the Series. “We will limit the 600-meter swimmers to 10-15 individuals per heat. Each heat can only start once we get a green light from the medical tent and air transport team that they have capacity for the next heat. In the mile swim, we permit ten swimmers at one time because the recovery time is generally longer (30-45 minutes compared with 10-15 minutes for the shorter race). Our maximum is 150 swimmers. Each swimmer will require a physical before the event and on the day prior to the event we will do an ECG and check blood pressure on each swimmer – the physicians have the right to disallow any swimmers from participating. Each swimmer will receive a certificate from the International Ice swimming Association and the mile swimmers will receive our prestigious red jacket.”

Ram will make the announcement to where the event will take place in New York City on June 18th. Stay tuned.

Ram is shown above swimming in Antarctica.

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