Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.
An Ice Zero Swim is the toughest standard physiologically, psychologically, operationally and generally logistically in the ice swimming community. An Ice Zero Swim is an Ice Mile that must be completed entirely in water temperature below 1°C (33.8°F).
There have been 10 athletes who have completed this unique ice swimming challenge with several more ice swimmers slated to make their own attempts somewhere in the Arctic Circle, down in the Southern Ocean of Antarctica, or other open bodies of water with extreme temperatures and conditions:
Ice Zero Swimmers:
1. Ram Barkai (South Africa) – 10 Ice Zero Miles
2. Jaimie Monahan (USA) – 6 Ice Zero Miles
2. Ger Kennedy (Ireland) – 6 Ice Zero Miles
4. Ryan Stramrood (South Africa) – 5 Ice Zero Miles
5. Kieron Palframan (South Africa) – 4 Ice Zero Miles
6. Toks Viviers (South Africa) – 3 Ice Zero Miles
6. Henri Kaarma (Estonia) – 3 Ice Zero Miles
8. Aleksandr Brylin (Russia) – 1 Ice Zero Mile
8. Andrey Sychyovv (Russia) – 1 Ice Zero Mile
8. Gavin Pike (South Africa) – 1 Ice Zero Mile
Monahan is the only women in the top 5 ice swimming zero community. She has completed the following International Ice Swimming Association-certified one-mile Ice Zero Swims:
Jaimie Monahan’s Ice Zero Career:
1. 1 mile on April 2nd 2016 in Reykjavík, Iceland in 3.70°C water (3°C wind chill + 5.6°C air) in 35:00 in the sea with 12 km/hr wind speed
2. 1.03 miles on December 18th 2016 in Tyumen, Russia in -0.03°C water (-31°C wind chill + air) in 30:20 in a pool in a lake with 4 km/hr wind speed
3. 1.02 miles on February 13th 2017 in Aguelmame Sidi Ali Lake, Morocco in 4.9°C water (-0.5°C wind chill + 3°C air) in 32:18 in a mountain lake with 14 km/hr wind speed
4. 1.11 miles on March 4th 2017 in Mikkelvik Brygge, Karlsøy, Norway in 2.37°C water (-3.5°C wind chill + -3.5°C air) in 32:09 in the sea with 4 km/hr wind speed
5. 1.01 miles on March 9th 2017 at M Street Beach, Boston, USA in 4.63°C water (6.1°C wind chill + 9°C air) in 26:16 in the sea with 20 km/hr wind speed
6. 1.14 miles on May 15th 2017 in Tasman Lake, Aoraki Mt. Cook, New Zealand in 2.37°C water (14°C wind chill + air) in 26:44 in a glacier lake [shown above]
For more details, visit the International Ice Swimming Association website here.
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