After recently returning from his sixth swimming expedition to Antarctica, Ram Barkai (68, South Africa, IISA bio here, @rambarkai_iceswimmer) reminisced about the phenomena of ice swimming, “The International Ice Swimming Association now has members in over 100 countries. People often ask me which regions are growing fastest and why. The answer, perhaps unsurprisingly, is Europe.

It makes sense when you think about it. Europe has an abundance of accessible icy water: lakes, rivers, coastlines, lidos, spread across dozens of countries. Depending on the time of year, you can move across the continent chasing the ice. Great Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia, Central and Eastern Europe, the cold is never far away.

What’s driving the growth is something I find particularly interesting. It’s not that thousands of people are suddenly deciding to become ice swimmers. I t’s that the concept of swimming all year round is becoming established. People start in warm water during summer, continue as it cools in autumn, push through the cold in winter, and by the time the ice arrives, they’re ready. Then they do it all again.

That seasonal rhythm is turning cold water swimming from a one-off challenge into a lifestyle. And with every icy season, more people discover that this is something they want to keep doing- not just once, but year after year. Of course, some come and go. That’s natural with any sport. But the trend is clear: with every wave of newcomers, a growing number stay.

They find something in the cold water that they weren’t expecting, and it becomes part of how they live. And that’s the part people often misunderstand. Ice swimming doesn’t require you to swim in ice all year round. You swim in ice when there is ice. The rest of the year, you swim. The cold season is simply the sharpest, most demanding chapter of a year-round practice.

We’re seeing more events, more national federations forming, more athletes progressing from their first cold dip to structured competition. Europe is leading that momentum right now, and I don’t see it slowing down.“

The national breakdown of the IISA membership of 7,534 members is shown below and includes 685 Ice members (who have completed an Ice Mile), 566 Cold members (who have completed an Ice Kilometer), 1,877 Cool members, and 4,406 Warm members:

Author of an autobiography, From Fire to Ice, Barkai carries on in the ice even after surviving 12 emergency room visits, swimming with a pacemaker, dealing with an immune system collapse, and overcoming six different surgeries. He would have it no other way, “I hate hospitals, they smell, the food is terrible, the beds are uncomfortable, and everyone snores louder than me.”

He deals with it simply, “Head down, focus, and rebuild. Regain confidence is a huge factor in such rollercoasters.”

On March 9th, Barkai finally swam across Deception Island Bay in Antarctica while balancing his dreams with the rest of the swimmers on the expeditions. “We had 30 minutes to define the course, get ready, and swim. The sky was gloomy and overcast, windy, with some currents. The ship anchored 274 meters from the shore where I decided to swim straight for 1 km from point to point with the water ranging from 2.5°C to 2.7°C.

I first visited Deception Island in 2014 and again in 2018, both times slightly hungover after swimming. I’ve always wanted to swim there. It was a 12-year dream of mine. The first 200 meters is always very hard. Your body freezes until you feel nothing, breathing is very tight, and I know it will get better soon.

I usually swim the first 200m with my eyes closed, making a narrow gap to see a little. Focusing inward — breath, stroke, breathe, and stroke — waiting for my hands to go rock solid. Much better — no pain, no feelings, just some muscle memory. My goggles fog up and start taking water. I try to ignore it and realize I need to fix it now or it may stop me later. Quick stop, breaststroke kick while rinsing and emptying goggles. All good, head down, and carry on swimming.

I had the zodiac right next to me, so I decided not to look ahead until I was much closer. Just swimming. The wind throws around my tow float, which is rather irritating. I lift my head up and see the ship’s bow right ahead — a massive blue ship in this ghostly, abandoned dark place. I still have some distance to go. Head down again. Meanwhile, the side tidal current and wind start pushing right, while I need to curve left towards the beach. Sam wanted to take me around the ship, but she was worried that heading back into the open bay might freak me out. I had to correct left all the time, and the changing of direction brought the tow float on my shoulder, heating my arms and guiding my head with every stroke. Small waves appear and throw me straight out of my rhythm. I stop trying to manage it; I even consider taking it off—but that would be the end of my swim.

The water was dark brown, and if anything were to happen, I would spend the rest of my life on Deception Island. The muscles on my left chest around my pacemaker started to twitch. New phenomena for me. Later, we checked everything; I was 100% fine, but it was still a new experience that played on my mind.

Every swim is a journey into the unknown; in some ways, I am my own test subject because there is no one out there with a pacemaker doing this. I wonder why? I wanted out. Sam looked at Michal, my trusted doctor. Michal looked at me and said to Sam, ‘He can continue, he is fine.’ He was right. My stroke rate was consistent the whole way. I was fine, but the mind — yes, that fickle mind that tricks us — wasn’t aligned with my body. If I wasn’t fine, I would have reached the Zodiac and touched it. I needed that. Sam shouted at me, “100m, 2 paw length.” I put my head down and focused on deciding who was going to strangle whom first: me, the tow float, or the toe float me. I looked up at the Zodiac – I saw the DONE sign. Great, I was ready. I was hoisted up the Zodiac like a big catch, with a few scratches and bruises.“

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