IISA World Swimming Championships 2025, Molveno, Italy

It wasn’t just ice that was broken at the sixth IISA World Championships in Molveno, Italy, many ice swimming records were broken too, with British swimmers bringing home 96 medals. Ella Foote reports

Not long after I arrived in Molveno, Italy, I was drawn out of my hotel to the sounds of drumming and music. In the distance I could see a river of people snaking towards the town square waving flags from around the world – the Ice Swimmers were here!

Much like the start of the Olympics, the International Ice Swimming Association start their World Championships with a participant parade and it was something special to see 760 swimmers from 40 different countries circle the church to stand proud and ready for the 2025 event.

Italy had a record number of participants. When IISA started, Italy only had one ice swimmer but this year 80 swimmers took part and Italian swimmer Egor Tropeano won the 100 meters breaststroke event. I was told by a local that Italians don’t like to be cold, so it is surprising that there are any swimmers willing to represent the country!

Usually in winter, Molveno is quiet with most people staying in or close to nearby ski resort town, Andalo. While in summer the lakeside town is thriving, busy with tourists and Italians on holiday or visiting for lake views, swimming and beaches. In winter you are unlikely to see anyone in the water with the mountains covered in snow and temperatures hovering around -4ºC. The area is a winter destination for skiing, sledding and snowshoe hiking, so, for locals, it was a spectacle to see almost 800 swimmers descend on the town for the World Championships, training and dipping in the lake and then racing in water temperatures between 1ºC and 1.5ºC in their usually heated outdoor pool.

Before the event could get started it took a team to people to clear three to four inches of ice from the pool’s surface. The ice was piled up a short distance from the pool and quickly became a popular and brilliant photo opportunity for spectators and competitors. The weather and conditions were ideal with clear, blue skies, a daily dose of sunshine, snow-capped mountains and below freezing temperatures. Even as a spectator, I had to be wrapped up and prepared for the chill. It made the event even more impressive and even more spectacular to watch.

In fact, watching is what many people across the world did, because the event was live streamed online for people to support from their warm homes in their home country. Many in the UK logged on daily to watch their friends or family members tackle their ice swims.

Cathy Munro had her first real experience of swimming in water so cold. “My training is both pool and lake swimming but the lakes I swim in Hampshire and Surrey were around 6-7ºC and so I could have done with more acclimatisation to have swum my absolute best,” says Cathy. “My first event, the 500m freestyle, was a bigger challenge than I expected, but I did get a silver age group medal. The 250m freestyle was my best event, the cold less of an issue with a shorter distance and I was able to race, I got a gold in my age group. I was apprehensive for the 1km event. It was in the afternoon, so the air temperature had dropped to -3ºC and the water was down to 1ºC, but I made a plan and managed to get silver in my age group! It was a challenging championship and at 62-years-old I still have many lessons to learn.”

Team GB had 46 swimmers at this year’s event; the youngest team member, Frankie Jackson, is just 14 years old. The team came home with six overall medals and 90 age group medals. Jessika Robson, another young swimmer at 18 years-old, got silver in the 1km, bronze in the 500m and 250m freestyle and bronze for 100m backstroke as well as breaking four British swimming records and achieving age group medals. The other medals went to Melanie Hall (bronze in 100m breaststroke) and Jonty Warneken (silver in 50m para breaststroke). “I am still in shock at my overall breaststroke medal as I consider my best stroke to be freestyle on the account of having one leg!”

“Swimming the 1km was a highlight for me,” says Jessika. “I trained hard especially for that event, but I’ve never swam that distance in water that cold! Swimming in a lane next to Alisa Fatum-Boker, who is an absolute legend, and then to be stood next to her on the podium made me crazy emotional. The atmosphere of the whole week was incredible. It was such a cool experience being able to swim against other people from across the world in the ice.”

“It was so pleasing to see how Jessika swam,” says Jonty Warneken, IISA Vice President. “For an 18-year-old to come in and get overall silver in 1K and bronze in 500m in her first World Championship is just an astonishing achievement and is testament to her training. She is a real credit to herself, the team and her family. It is great to see junior swimmers representing at this level, they swam so well, it shows me that the future of the sport is secure.”

From the youngest to the oldest GB swimmer, Sallie Cheung broke the age group world record with her 50m and 100m breaststroke. Sallie at 71, was impressed by the diversity of swimmers at the event. “You cannot look at someone and know how quick or how beautiful in the water they are going to be,” says Sallie. “That is the joy of the sport – competitive or social, swimming is magical! There were many highlights for me: the sunshine, the mountains and seeing our names on the big TV. It was great to see GB swimmer Brian Bain swim in all 12 of the individual events and win medal in 11 of them. There was great spirit, great swimming, great volunteers, great atmosphere and Great Britain!”

The IISA event was a first for many swimmers, including most of the USA team. Rena Demeo, USA’s team captain was surprised how protective she felt towards her team.

“Most of the team are new to IISA events and so I wanted to assure them that they were always OK and they were on the team for a reason,” says Rena. “I didn’t expect to feel so maternal. There were some tears that came with the fears and I loved that people trusted me with those feelings – it’s a big deal. I didn’t care much about the times, I was simply proud that they had the guts to try, winning was a super bonus!”

USA team member Qing Li was thrilled to be in the team and set an age group world record in the 200 individual medley. “I was thrilled to compete at the event,” says Qing. “This is a sport that is built on a culture of having utmost humility of one’s abilities, respect for fellow athletes, and appreciation for the community support to keep each other safe. I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to be part of Team USA and showcase the incredible spirit of this sport on the world stage.”

Also, part of the USA team was Outdoor Swimmer contributor Elaine K Howley, who just so happened to finish her backstroke heat as I hung out at the end of the pool. It was a great place to hang and meet swimmers we have featured in the magazine and yet, I have never met in person. Like Ice Mermaid from Chile, Bárbara Hernández, who I was thrilled to finally chat to and who will feature in our April issue. It was also wonderful to meet Austrian swimmer Josef Köberl who swims in an ice palace – more on that later this year!

The IISA are working to get ice swimming into the Winter Olympics and so this event had all the style, flare and rules of serious competition. Our GB team had to train and qualify to take part before then passing various medical checks before competition. The overall attitude of the IISA is that the event should be safe, the IISA motto is “Safety and Integrity in the ICE.”

If you would like to learn more about the IISA or future events, visit: internationaliceswimming.com

IISA stats

• IISA – The International Ice Swimming Association (IISA) was formed in 2009
• Ice Swimming is swimming in water temperature of 5ºC / 41ºF or lower
• ISA now holds Ice Swims in 46 countries and has membership in 73 countries around the world
• Team GB was made up of 46 swimmers and took home96 medals
• 11 Para-swimmers took part in the 2025 event representingseven countries