Ice swim racing is not for the faint of heart – literally

Fit Nation: Around the World in 8 Races will air three times on Saturday, April 21, between 1 and 6 p.m. ET and one time between 5 and 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 22.

Plunge into water at near-freezing temperatures, and your body goes into extreme distress. Your skin screams signals of pain. You can’t breathe, because your chest is cramping up. Talking is nearly impossible. Your heart is pounding. Fear mounts – as it should. Without any protection, you may lose consciousness in under 15 minutes. You’ll be dead within an hour.

Or … you can start racing! That’s the idea behind the Open Scandinavian Championship in Winter Swimming, which takes place every year in a 25-meter pool cut out of a frozen lake in a small Swedish town only about 100 miles from the Arctic Circle. Nearly 400 swimmers traveled there in February for the privilege and thrill of competing in this unique sport with as many health benefits as risks, it seems.

It’s the health benefits of the cold – both physical and emotional – that inspired this winter swimming race in the first place. Lars Westerlund, a founder and current organizer of the race, is also the chairman of the Society for Happy Friends of Cold and Darkness, dedicated to embracing the sub-zero temperatures and sub-sunshine days of the region. The Happy Friends want to give travelers reasons to venture that far north.

Theirs is a yin and yang understanding of darkness and cold. It’s actually the light of a region so dark in the winter that is amazing: the long blueish dawn of a three-hour day and the unique way light reflects off the snow. And it’s the health benefits of cold that are the attraction, particularly for winter swimming.

The Open Scandinavian Championship in Winter Swimming takes place every February in a pool cut out of a frozen lake in a small Swedish town about 100 miles from the Arctic Circle.

Swimmers descend into the chilly water, as diving is not allowed. Nearly 400 people from 16 countries competed this year.

The water temperature is 0.2 Celsius (32 Fahrenheit), just shy of freezing. The ice on the surface, more than 2 feet thick, had been cut by a team of laborers with chainsaws.

Swimmers can't wear wetsuits, gloves or any footgear. But all of them must wear a hat, to help retain body heat. There is a competition for the most creative headgear.

The day consisted of three individual races and one team relay which is the most popular, with more than 40 teams competing.

When racers come out of the water, "they are very happy," said Lars Westerlund, a founder and organizer of the race. "It's like taking a joint. Everything is in harmony. It's a very special experience."

Sweden's winter swim championship

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