American coach-administrator-ambassador-swimmer Joe Zemaitis explains how he and his swimmers competed at the IISA 6th World Championship in Molveno, Italy in the video above.
Coach Zemaitis of Swim Neptune lives in the arid desert of that American southwest state of Arizona. The 44-year-old International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame Honor Swimmer explains, “We don’t have an ability to train in cold water so we do ice baths in conjunction with warm water swimming in order to prepare to swim in Molveno at the IISA 6th World Championship in the mountains.
We do not have a fancy ice tub. It is one that [my brother] John built it out of a chest freezer by caulking the seams and filling with water. It can hold the temperature as cold as we can stand it. We have it dialed in well where the water temperature is right at 1°C with a big mass of ice at the bottom, but not where it’s freezing all over.”
Zemaitis Ice Swimming Sets
“We’ll do a set where I go 4 minutes in the ice tub where the water is 1-2°C and then we get out and immediately go to the pool where we do 2 x 50 sprints on :50. This is followed by 4 x 25 sprints on :30, then we do a 100 easy. Then we get out and go straight back in the ice tub. We repeat that rotation five times.
It’s not a perfect training system, but it’s the best we can get in Arizona.
With all the ice bath training back home, we are not having a problem with the initial shock of getting into the water here in Molveno at the IISA 6th World Championship. But the longer races are tough – especially with intense pain in our hands and feet. The altitude of Molveno is also a challenge.
It’s difficult to stay relaxed enough at the start of a race and establish my breathing. Even with all the challenges, it’s magic in Molveno this week and Team USA is loving every minute.”
Zemaitis is shown below with 20-year-old California Berkeley sophomore Keaton Jones who has set several IISA world records along with his multiple IISA world championship podium finishing sister Ezmee Jones, and his ice swimming brother John Zemaitis.
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That’s an interesting training regimen.
It is certainly effective, especially if you do not have the advantage of living where the water is always cold (e.g., Ireland or Washington).