The Future of Winter Swimming

evmoevmo SydneyAdmin
edited February 2015 in General Discussion
In light of this past weekend's inaugural US Winter Swimming Championships in Vermont, I'm curious to hear people's thoughts & speculations on what the future might hold for this intriguing trend in the open water swimming world.

Congrats to everyone who participated and got their feet wet/frozen for a lap or two (or four) in Lake Memphremagog. And well done to Flipper @Fil for organizing it all. Sounds like a great time was had by all.

So what does it all mean? Where is this headed?

Clearly, folks living in the world's colder regions have been "winter swimming" for eons -- so these "championships" are in some sense just formalizing, and introducing competition to, what has already long existed.

What is the end game? A slot in the Winter Olympics?

Will people become dissatisifed with the Ice Mile, and try to do it Butterfly? Or try to do 2 instead of 1?

Just curious what the chatter is, out on the ice floes....

Sincerely,
native Californian who thinks "winter swimming" means 48-49F at worst (or is it best?) :)

Comments

  • Longer distances is almost inevitable. Maybe an immersion championship, no swimming, just last man standing in a cold water pool. Similar to the sauna championships.
    gregoc
  • gregocgregoc Charter Member
    People are constantly asking MOWSA to allow them to swim longer distances than the Ice Mile. Personally I sometimes think a mile is too long at 41 degrees. Having experienced the U.S. Winter Swim first hand, I will say that it is less stressful physically and mentally compared to an Ice Mile. It was also a more fun and social event. I think it is hear to stay and grow in the USA. The hard part is finding people who are willing to organize such an event and know how to do it safely. @Fil is a logical person who has done it once and can do it again.
    Also, the swim meet format would fit well into the Winter Olympics. The events are so fast that there is no time for hypothermia to set in or event discomfort.
    IronMikeloneswimmerJBirrrdChickenOSeaLeadhyenakotjmf
  • phodgeszohophodgeszoho UKSenior Member
    I don’t know the specifics of the rules but was slightly concerned to hear that there is an endurance event in this weekend’s Winter Championships in Estonia called “Last Man Standing”. From what little I know it is whoever can swim the furthest irrespective of time taken.

    Maybe it’s just me, but if the idea is an extreme cold water endurance event with no set distance/time limit but just an expectation for the participants to push themselves as far as possible then I would consider this a recipe for disaster…
    loneswimmergregocdaveyswimsJBirrrdKatieBunLeadhyena
  • gregocgregoc Charter Member
    there is an endurance event in this weekend’s Winter Championships in Estonia called “Last Man Standing”. From what little I know it is whoever can swim the furthest irrespective of time taken.

    Wow, that sounds just like the " immersion championship" that @gnome4766 was joking about.
  • I wasn't joking. Lol
  • evmoevmo SydneyAdmin
    edited February 2015
    gregoc wrote: »
    Also, the swim meet format would fit well into the Winter Olympics. The events are so fast that there is no time for hypothermia to set in or event discomfort.

    I kinda think as soon as the IOC makes "ice swimming" an Olympic event, you're going to get an entirely different calibre of athlete competing. Like, actual fast swimmers. Elite-level fast, professional swimmers who are looking to expand their marketing opportunities beyond the Summer Games. Like when Lolo Jones decided she wanted to become a bobsledder. Not many will be interested, but all it takes are a few.

    And this will be frustrating to all the amateur winter swimmers who think this is their big shot at Olympic glory. At 25 meters or 100m, sheer speed is still going to win out, by a long shot. 450m gets slightly more interesting. A mile even more interesting -- but I doubt the IOC will ever approve a mile.
    gregocJBirrrdLeadhyena
  • JimBoucherJimBoucher Senior Member
    Evmo you are completely correct. Speed will always win out. It does in the winter championships presently and its hards to think of when we last saw some roly poly people bobbing to victory. Some of the winning 50 free times are well below 30 sec with hand turns and no dive.

    I dont see miles and longer being approved either.

    In fact I can't see the logic at all for swimming to have what is in effect simply conducting the sport in adverse conditions. Are events like the 100m running race to also be included in the winter Olympics by, for example, having Usain Bolt etc run the 100 in a snowstorm? Or cycling races on frozen pavements? I suspect the amateurs will be there at the top for a few more years yet!
    evmogregocJBirrrd
  • FilFil Derby, VTCharter Member

    From Lake Memphremagog - The "future" as I see it, is that we will be doing a winter swim next year on February 27 and 28. We will offer 25, 50, 100 and 200 meter distances. Water temps this year were somewhere between 29 and 30.4. Air temp was 10 to 18 degrees. Wind was 5 to 20 MPH. It was TOTALLY COLD.

    From what I saw and what I know, this kind of winter swimming will grow. How fast and how far, who knows. All I can say is that the swimmers had a blast. We learned a lot this first year and established that we can cut a pool in 2 to 3 foot thick ice and support such an event.

    Here are some links to the coverage:

    Boston Globe

    http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/02/27/competitors-take-icy-plunge-winter-swimming-championships/WKyRGdQV2gXw2c3WIj9lAK/story.html

    Seven Days and CBS-WCAX

    http://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/us-winter-swimming-championship-siv389/Content?oid=2528081

    H2O Magazine

    http://www.h2openmagazine.com/news/warm-hearts-cold-competition-us-winter-swimming-championship/ #sthash.7ukyxGzG.dpbs

    National Public Radio – All Things Considered

    http://www.npr.org/2015/02/23/388469624/-cold-actually-feels-good-at-the-u-s-winter-swimming-championship?utm_source=facebook.com

    VPR

    http://digital.vpr.net/post/winter-swimmers-brave-ice-lake-memphremagog

    WBGO – Sarah Watson – New Jersey

    http://www.wbgo.org/internal/mediaplayer/?journalID=jrnl2015-150227-article5&type=journal

    Daily News of Open Water Swimming

    http://dailynews.openwaterswimming.com/2015/02/paula-yankauskas-and-hardened-winter.html

    Any questions, just holler - Fil

    ChickenOSeaevmoKNicholas
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