Ger Kennedy Is Officially Amazing

Ger Kennedy, known as Dr. Ice, was formally honored with a Guinness World Record for his achievement of the Ice Sevens.

The Ice Sevens Challenge is the ice swimming equivalent of the Oceans Seven - that takes extreme to an entirely different level.

To achieve the Ice Sevens, a swimmer must complete an Ice Mile under standard ice swimming rules (i.e., no wetsuit and no neoprene hat in water below 5ºC) in seven locations. The swims must be ratified or recognized by the International Ice Swimming Association.

o An Ice Mile swum below 5ºC (41ºF) in any location in Europe
o An Ice Mile swum below 5ºC (41ºF) in any location in Oceania
o An Ice Mile swum below 5ºC (41ºF) in any location in Asia
o An Ice Mile swum below 5ºC (41ºF) in any location in North America
o An Ice Mile swum below 5ºC (41ºF) in any location in Africa
o An Ice Mile swum below 5ºC (41ºF) in any location in South America
o An Ice Mile swum below 5ºC (41ºF) in any Polar location at 60º south or below or 70º north or above
o One of the seven Ice Miles must be a documented Zero Ice Mile (defined as a solo mile swim performed at below 1ºC water temperature)

Ger Kennedy's Ice Sevens Swims

o 1st Ice Mile in Europe in Lough Dan, Co. Wicklow, Ireland on 24 February 2013, 1 mile in 3.3°C water in 40 minutes in a freshwater glacier lake
o 2nd Ice Mile in Mikkelvik Brygge, Karlsøy, Norway (Polar Ice Mile) on 6 March 2017, 1 mile in 2.5°C water in 34 minutes 5 seconds in a sea water Norwegian fjord
o 3rd Ice Mile Zero in Asia in Tyumen, Siberia, Russia on 9 December 2017, 2 km in 0.5°C water in 43 minutes 10 seconds in a 25m 3-lane ice pool called the lake of champions
o 4th Ice Mile in Africa in Lake Ouiouane, Mid-Atlas mountains of Morocco on 6 January 2018, 1 mile in 3.7°C water in 37 minutes 10 seconds in a high altitude lake at 1630 meters
o 5th Ice Mile in North America at M Street Beach, Boston, USA on 22 February 2018, 1 mile in 4.7°C water in 32 minutes 15 seconds in the open sea
o 6th Ice Mile in Oceania in the Thredbo Reservoir, NSW Australia on 1 June 2019, 1 mile in 2.8°C water in 38 minutes 2 seconds in a high altitude fresh water lake at 1440 meters
o 7th Ice Mile in South America in Portillo, Chile on 4 October 2019, 1 mile in 3.9°C water in a high-altitude freshwater glacier lake at 2,880 meters

Two women - Jaimie Monahan of the USA and Kate Steels of the UK - have also completed the Ice Sevens.

By Steven Munatones.
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and Editor of the KAATSU Magazine. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), Dale Petranech Award for Services to the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (2022), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007 and 2010), and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984, awarded to the senior whose interests are not bounded by academic or institutional structures. A joyous, deeply-rooted affirmation of life, disdain for the purely conventional; a love of adventure, and desire to learn by experiencing; the ability to respond creatively to difficult situations). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee (until 2011) and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, a 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff including 4 FINA World Championships, and 2008 NBC Olympic 10K Marathon Swim commentator.



Location: Huntington Beach, CA, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Eduardo Slerca Completes the Travessia do Leme ao Pontal

Image
Adherbal de Oliveira , President of the Leme to Pontal Swimming Association reported on another successful crossing from Leme to Pontal, Brazil. " More than a challenge, the 36 km Travessia do Leme ao Pontal in Brazil is a dream that many swimmers have. It motivates them to work hard for a long period of time and to one day be able to transform those dreams into an unforgettable reality. The swim that started at 1:29 am on March 17th was very special due to the characteristics of the swimmer who, as an amateur, needs to know how to reconcile his training series with family and work routines, as well as for everything that they had experienced during the Travessia do Leme ao Pontal. A challenge of 36 km in the Atlantic Oceans requires a long preparation with the fulfillment of tests with intermediate lengths that demand for many swimmers some years of dedication, focus and discipline. To complete a marathon, it is necessary to leave your comfort zone, leave that routine w
Read more

Eduardo Daniel Appoloni Rotela Becomes First Swimmer from Uruguay to Complete the Travessia do Leme ao Pontal

Image
Adherbal de Oliveira , President of the Leme to Pontal Swimming Association reported on another historic day from Leme to Pontal, Brazil. He writes, " The morning of March 4th 2023 began with 35-year-old Eduardo Daniel Appoloni Rotela who became the first Uruguayan swimmer to attempt and complete the 36 km Travessia do Leme ao Pontal . We recently won fourth place in the annual WOWSA Awards in the Event of the Year category which highlights the events in the world that have most positively influenced open water swimming. Appoloni is a Certified Public Accountant and a former pool swimmer and basketball player who began his career in the open water in 2019. Since then, he has been accumulating experiences and skills. Appoloni is very disciplined and has become a brilliant swimmer who, together with his coach Jorge Mario Gnazzo Orrego, plans each of the challenges he faces step-by-step. After a year and a half of preparations, Appoloni arrived in Rio de Janeiro accompan
Read more

When Hookers Hang Around Swimmers, It Is A Good Thing

Image
Phil White is a visionary. He saw the future of winter swimming in his home state of Vermont and created the Memphremagog Winter Swimming Festival . For nine consecutive years, White has attracted hundreds of swimmers to the middle of the frozen Lake Memphremagog in Vermont. Similar to his catchy vernacular for his summer lake events (e.g., yacker ), White has originated the term hooker for his safety personnel at his winter swimming extravaganza. As Don Houghton Jr. demonstrates above along the edge of the 25m pool at the 2023 Memphremagog Winter Swimming Festival (photo courtesy of Kathleene Marcil ), a safety hooker walks along the edge of the winter swimming pool with the primary responsibility to rescue a swimmer in trouble by attaching a safety harness apparatus around their body. The harness - or hook - pulls the troubled swimmer out of cold water. White and Houghton were part of the seriously-minded, totally dedicated local support crew who gathered to welcome
Read more