Under ice freediving without wetsuit

[Mlaen]

I've been searching for related info but couldn't find anything...

Ever since I saw this video where men was doing dnf under ice without wetsuit (I think it was Christian Redl but I'm not sure) I wanted to try that...
In a few months I hope I finally will (I need to wait for the lake to freeze )

So, a few questions about that:
- Are there any possible complications for health (in other words, is that performed only by crazy people ), and if there are how to prevent them?
- Should I prepare for this in any special way (I'm in good shape, gym 3x a week, pool 2-3x a week, regular cardio...) or can I just enter this cold water and "suffer"?
- Any advices what to do after this "performance" (ie drink hot tea immediately after to increase body temperature)

I hope these are not stupid questions

 

[efattah]

I have done it before.

1. Make sure your core temperature is hot, over 38C. You must use an oral thermometer for this. If it is less than 38C, don't get in !!

2. You may need to use gloves or socks, otherwise the nerves can seize up and prevent you from moving your hands or feet (dangerous!)

3. Make sure to do a bit of deep breathing before you get in, at least 1 minute of deep breathing, to counter the CO2 out-of-solution effect once you jump in. Of course a buddy is 100% necessary.

4. Once you jump in, use a snorkel and don't move at all for at least 1-2 minutes, until your body acclimatizes. Then breathe up and go.

5. Assuming your core was >38C, your maximum immersion time should be less than 6 minutes MAX, preferably less.

6. Once you get out, don't move much! Your buddy should help to dry you off. Any sudden movements or even walking will cause cold blood to hit your heart, and you can have a heart attack.

I don't recommend swimming under the ice itself without another freediver in a wetsuit following you the whole way.

 

[Walrus]

You make it sound like fun Eric, I wonder why more people aren't doing it ? rofl

 

[nostres]

You make it sound like fun Eric, I wonder why more people aren't doing it ? rofl

Of course they do!
You can watch my buddies here and now we are two months from another ICE dive.
This time I am in with no wetsuit.

P.S. It's good to eat some coconut oil before the dive day. It's more like butter and it's delicious too.
Have fun

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtSvJoYuoiQ&sns=em]YouTube - ICE FREEDIVING Wisconsin 2009[/ame]

 

[demasoni]

You're in the water for 2+ hours? How do you pee? :t

That's an awesome vid Pete!

 

[Mlaen]

I have done it before.
...

Thank you eric, much appriciated!!
Great video nostres, it's in my favorites already

 

[nostres]

http://forums.deeperblue.com/wisconsin-freedivers-spearos/84780-freeze-palooza-2010-a.html

 

[whucash]

I would rather eat my own toe nails than dive without suit in a such cold water..

 

[rxcnc2]

Maybe it's not completely related, but I'll mention it anyway.
Many years ago, I was in Saratov (Russia, along the Volga river). It was winter, I was walking along the river banks, there were whole sections frozen. I was struck by a group of old persons (over 65 years oldI'd say) that were sitting in a "bathtub" carved in the ice, with their swimsuits only. They were sitting there with water up to their necks, as you'd do in a spa only the water must have been near freezing. Air temperature was below zero C too. There was a sign, and it was explained to me that these people believed in therapeutic benefits of "cold baths". Judging from their age, I'd believe it too.

This was not the usual "sauna" dip (I have done it in Finland, and I have done it in Siberia with -30C outside: you steam yourself up till your are burning, then walk naked outside and roll in the snow, then run back in). These people in Saratov had no sauna or fires or other visible source of heating nearby, just their clothes and towels hanging. I was truly impressed.

I can't say how long they were there, what their routine was... but I am sure they would not have been too scared of swimming 6 minutes in ice cold water. Training is probably a key factor - as well as experience and companions around you. I am sure there are similar "clubs" elsewhere.

 

[Lil Dragonfly]

When I went to Switzerland I swam in a glacial lake in just a swimsuit. All the other hikers had their jaws dropped!

 

[rxcnc2]

It is not unusual that a lady in a swimsuit makes a few jaws drop...

There was also that guy some time ago that swam at the north pole, I think it was some stunt to draw attention to global warming (though I think the whole stunt probably caused quite a lot of damage in terms of CO2 considering all the persons that had to be airlifted there). He swam 1km in 18min. I think he was well trained for this.
BBC NEWS | UK | England | London | Swimmer rises to Arctic challenge

 

[sross]

Lewis Pugh currently holds the record for a long-distance swim (1.0 km) in the coldest water (-1.8°C). He used the technique mentioned by Eric of getting his core temperature up to 38°C before going in. He does this without artificial aids- seems to have a psychological ability to warm himself up. The physiologists call this 'anticipatory thermogenesis'.

The most extreme cold exposure record for a long-distance swim is surely held by Lynne Cox, who swam 1.96 km in 25 minutes, in water at 0°C at Neko Harbour in Antarctica. She also got her temperature up to 38°C before going in, which she can do completely on her own, without artificial aids, just like Pugh.

More info:

CNN.com - Athlete: Antarctic swim 'beautiful and harsh' - May 3, 2004

Swimming To Antarctica - CBS News

 

[pehtran]

Just this from my experience:
It is much less stressful for the body to be still in the ice cold water then to swim in it. While you are still, the water around your body warms up.
I remember this impresive guinnes record: a russian sitting in an ice cold water for more then an hour and getting out on his own.
Miha

 

[nostres]

So how do I crank my temp. up to 38C in the middle of a frozen lake?
BTW my temp. is 35.5-36C most of the time

 

[sross]

So how do I crank my temp. up to 38C in the middle of a frozen lake?
BTW my temp. is 35.5-36C most of the time

Heh, heh NoStres . . .

I have no idea how these folks that can crank their BT up to 38º do it . Eric, do you have any hints about possible techniques for doing this?

I'm a fairly ordinary 37.1º person myself, but if I was down at <36ºC , I think I would tend to either wear a nice, toasty wetsuit in cold water, or make my way to the Caribbean & stick with warmer water . . . I mean, really, this swimming in frigid water with nothing but a bathing suit on is really kind of a specialty sport- not something I could get excited about doing as a regular activity myself.

Steve

 

[Lil Dragonfly]

So how do I crank my temp. up to 38C in the middle of a frozen lake?
BTW my temp. is 35.5-36C most of the time

Biofeedback maybe?

 

[Mlaen]

A cup of warm tea + little cardio or something like that (a few sets of pushups maybe)?

 

[B-J]

I`ve seen the video of a guiness world record in underwater swimming under ice. Panicswimming with no technique. 50m or something. What is more impressive was Thomas Grindevolls achievement on last years "Oslo Ice Challenge." He competed in CWT but was disqualified for pulling. Nevertheless he did a 30m dive with only mask and speedo! He went in maybe a minute or so before and looked very strong. Stig Severinsen also did a 15? m CNF dive in his speedos. Looks great on video!

 

[TimoP]

Win Hof, the Dutch "Ice Man" has done many extreme things in very cold water and air, and he has several World records.

Just some here:

Wim Hof has recently broken the ice endurance record by standing fully immersed in ice for 1 hour and 42 minutes in Madrid, Spain in 2009.

In April 2007, Hof returned to Everest when he became the first man to scale 7,400 metres wearing nothing but shorts. (Temperature can be -30 C).

In 2009, Wim completed a full marathon 42.195 kilometres above the polar circle in Finland in temperatures close to -20 degrees celsius. He achieved this feat dressed in nothing but shorts and sandals

In 2000, dressed only in a swimsuit, he dove under the ice at the North Pole and earned a Guinness World Record for the longest amount of time swimming under the ice. Braving temperatures of minus three degrees, the temperature dropped to as low as minus 30 on leaving the water.
'The first big challenge was to swim a distance of 60 metres under an ice-deck of a metre thick beyond the Polar Circle,' he revealed. 'My goggles froze and I lost the track and so I went off course a little. I probably did the best record ever - around 80 metres.


While many scientists around the world find Hof's ability an anomaly, he says it is merely a case of mind over matter. Practising an ancient Himalayan meditation called 'Tummo,' or Inner Fire, he says he is able to generate inner heat.
'As one can solve maths by concentrating, so I focus on certain places in my body and generate heat because of it,' he says.
'Every body has mind power, I have learned to direct it toward my body and thus influence the cold and heating-system of my metabolism.
'Mind power is like electricity, it is a potential (current) which I have learned to use toward different places in my body - that is the real yoga.'

Here is more about him:
The ice man cometh: How a bizarre ability to survive freezing conditions is breaking records | Mail Online
[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wim_Hof"]Wim Hof - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

Ofcourse he has special abilities for freezing conditions. But he also has trained for years to become even better.
.​

 

[osusim]

In 2000, dressed only in a swimsuit, he dove under the ice at the North Pole and earned a Guinness World Record for the longest amount of time swimming under the ice.

Timo, is Finland really located at the North Pole? May be I lost something in the life rofl