According to the organizers of the first international ice swim, ice fans are finding more and more fans. This is not for the sensitive, so all participants must present a medical certificate in advance. Organizer Eric Demsuk said it’s for extreme swimmers. We are happy to present the sport here. There is a wave of success in Europe and more and more people are finding love for ice swimming.

There will also be experienced ice swimmers

Catherine Pendleton from Great Britain has already swum in Antarctica. The sea there was exactly zero degrees. She says it purifies your mind. She swims, forgets everything, and she enjoys swimming. Gert Kennedy, from Ireland, said it was currently four degrees in Lake Worthersey and was not too cold. He is considered a pioneer in the field of ice swimming. It’s almost hot, he said. Extreme swimmer nicknamed “Dr. Ice”.

A few months ago, Doris Reich-Rohwig from Vienna started ice swimming: “I heard about it from friends who have been doing it for a long time, and I got into the habit of running in the cold rain and winter. , It’s easier than you think. “

“Adrenaline rush starts”

Claudia Ebner from Bodensdorf was the only Carinthian to swim in the ice. For ten years she has been swimming in the Carinthian lakes in the winter. She lives near the lake, so she uses the lakes all year round. There were also health reasons, based on Neep’s idea, that she uses cold water for veins. It takes effort, but it’s an adrenaline rush, so maybe you can not give it up, Ebner says. International ice swimming should become an annual event at Lake Wortzi.

Organizer Demzuk has already experienced a lot, so in 2017 he swam the entire length of the Volga – 3,500 km in swimming (kaernten.ORF.at; 1.10.2017).

Free divers train on the longitudinal lake

But it’s not just swimmers in Wortzi who value the cold. Carinthia’s free divers complete their cold training in Langkawi. Peter Stetina is a freelance diver and cold trainer: “Some say you get sick when you go in the cold water, while others say you never get sick. When we tried it, we found that it boosts immunity.

Gerd Bogner is also a freelance diver and cold trainer. He said he was actually a “whip” and often caught a cold. Then came the lockdown, and he thought he should try it. Monica Pravda agrees that it is already very cold and the skin is starting to burn. But when you come to the sun, it’s amazing.