Over in shady Lane 1 in the 50m pool in Molveno, Italy at the IISA 6th World Championship, Oceans Seven swimmer and Honor Swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame 60-year-old Lynton Mortensen of Australia (@lyntonmortensen, MSF bio here, IISA bio here) set off in the Ice Kilometer in the 1.5°C water.

He finished later after 20 minutes 3.51 seconds in the 50m pool.

He commented, “The IISA World Champs was a wonderful spectacle – positive energy and smiles all round from every corner of the world. There was a lot of love in the house. It was also awesome to cheer on Jacqueline McClelland (Ireland, 47, IISA bio here) and Josef Köberl (Austria, 48, IISA bio here) and other inductees into the International Ice Swimming Hall of Fame. Molveno was a spectacular event.

The pool was certainly fresh. The water felt like 1.5°C, but the sauna recovery after was awesome. It was the first time I’ve ever swum in a cold pool. I enjoyed the experience, but give me the ocean and its elements and creatures anytime.”

That statement is certainly true.

Mortensen had started his current world tour at the Bottom of the World with the Antarctica Ice Swimming Adventure in November 2024 at Portal Point.

He initially completed an Ice Kilometer in 25 minutes 53 seconds on November 12th, his second Ice Kilometer in Antarctica in 2024 [his first 1000m in Antarctica was completed in February 2024]. He initially completed a 250m test swim in the -0.4°C water. He wrote, “It sure was tough conditions in the -1.4°C water with 30 knot gusts and floating ice with icebergs, chop, and poor visibility. The Southern Ocean had it all today – and it made for a challenging recovery. It was the coldest water that I’ve swim in and the most difficult given the extreme conditions. Antarctica is the most magical place on earth. I was going to swim again last night, but it got cancelled because of deteriorating conditions.”

On the last possible day, November 15th, he was able to attempt and complete a remarkable achievement, a Zero Ice Mile at -1.0°C water and -2.7°C air in 31 minutes 41 seconds at the Argentinian Antarctic Base and scientific research Station with dozens of penguins watching he and co-swimmer Ram Barkai (@rambarkai_iceswimmer) from land while other penguins were swimming in the water with them.

Barkai explained, “Lynton has swum the coldest Ice Kilometer ever swum ever swum at – 1.4°C water with 30 knot gusts as well as the coldest Ice Mile ever swum at -1.0°C. Together with Jaimie Monahan and Ger Kennedy, Lynton is one of the three people in history to have swum an Ice Mile in both the North Pole and South Pole. Lynton is the only one and first person to have ever swum both Polar Ice Miles at below 0°C.”

With the Oceans Seven achieved in 2018 and a Zero Ice Mile in both Antarctica and within the Arctic Circle, Mortensen has achieved the unprecedented Oceans Ice Extreme.

After returning to the Shetland Islands and  Deception Island on the last boat out before a storm hit, he eventually made his way to the West Coast of America.

“I managed to get an Ice Mile in Lake Tahoe in California before [going to] Molveno, Italy. I was with my great mate Amy Gubser as my medical and her husband Greg as Seconder and Tom ‘Reptile’ Linthicum as my observer and family film crew. It was a dream team that were brilliant and so much fun after our Alcatraz warm up. The first 300 meters or so of Tahoe was particularly brutal with the thinner air. It took much longer than normal to find a rhythm and open up the chest.“

So he managed cold water swims in the Southern Ocean in Antarctica, at high altitude in the California mountains in Lake Tahoe, and then raced in the mountains in Italy. But his global tour is not over.

He explained, “I’m heading to Austria next week for an Ice Mile with Josef, if the lake is cold enough. We were looking at an Ice Mile in Molveno – but lake was a tad warm at 6°C rather than the 5 or below we need.

After Austria, I head to Morocco with Hassan Baraka and the Morocco Ice Swimming Championships, followed by [another] Ice Mile. We may need to hike up around 2,000 meters to find water cold enough. Altitude adds another ingredient of difficulty to the exercise.

Japan is my last stop after swimming in Morocco to wind my way home back to the Gold Coast in Brisbane, Australia.”

Brisbane to Antarctica to California to Italy to Austria to Morocco to Japan, and back to Australia…what an 80-day trip for the Sea Bull.

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