New world records set at Ireland Ice Swimming Championships
A change of venue didn’t stop two world records being broken and two new ones being set at the Ireland Ice Swimming Championships. Despite initial disappointment that the championships couldn’t take place at Camlough Lake, new venue Conroy Pond soon proved that it had “fast water”.
Competitors, including participants in the championships’ ice swimming training programme, swam the 1km distance in a two-lane pool. Water temperature was 3.1 degrees Celsius and the air temperature 6.2 degrees.
Henri Kaarma, Estonia, set a new world record for the 1 km distance in 13:53:57. At Chill Swim the previous weekend, Christof Wandratsch swam 1km in 12:30.5, but the water temperature was 5.4 degrees. International Ice Swimming Association rules state that the water temperature must be 5.00 degrees or below.
Donna Cooke, Northern Ireland, beat the woman’s world record in 17:12:78.
Northern Ireland’s Jon Glover, 17, became the world’s youngest male to complete an ice kilometre. Glover also set a new age group record.
Simon Griffiths
I created Outdoor Swimmer in 2011 (initially as H2Open Magazine) as an outlet for my passion for swimming outdoors. I've been a swimmer and outdoor swimmer for as long as I remember. Swimming has made a huge difference to my life and I want to share its joys and benefits with as many people as possible. I am also the author of Swim Wild & Free: A Practical Guide to Swimming Outdoors 365 a Year and I provide one-to-one support to swimmers through Swim Mentoring.
