Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

Kinga Korin 78.3°N in Spitsbergen, Norway27 JUNE 2017

On June 27th 2017, Kinga Korin found herself at a latitude of 78.3°N within the Polar Circle in the Nordfjorden glacial fjord in Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway.

Kinga swam a distance of 1.09 km in 20 minutes 5 seconds. The water temperature was 4.6°C (40.3°F). This record has been ratified by the International Ice Swimming Association.

The most northerly Ice Swim (1 km+) by a female was

Korin was joined by six other swimmers on the expedition, which was led by Leszek Naziemiec from Poland. Four other male swimmers also swam in the same fjord on that day: Naziemiec swam 1.66 km (1.03 mi) in 39 min 39 sec; Lukaz Tkacz swam 1.85 km (1.15 mi) in 45 min 44 sec; Marek Grzywa swam 1.64 km (1.02 mi) in 34 min 59 sec; and Ram Barkai swam 1.66 km (1.03 mi) in 28 min 16 sec.

The most northerly Ice Swim by a male (and overall) was performed at the northernmost possible point on Earth – 90°N – across the geographic North Pole in the Arctic Ocean by Lewis Pugh (UK) on 15 July 2007. The water temperature was between -1.7°C (28.9°F) and 0°C (32°F) – seawater can dip below subzero without freezing because of its salt content. Nobody had achieved a 1-km swim at the North Pole before or has done since.