Svalbard

48-year-old Austrian ice swimmer and coach Gerald Daringer after completing a Polar Ice Mile in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway on 29 May 2025 to become one of only four people in history to complete 3 Extreme Ice Miles (over 2 km), an Ice Zero Mile, the Ice Triple Crown, and a Polar Ice Mile. This club includes Ger Kennedy of Ireland, Ram Barkai of South Africa, Paul Georgescu of Romania, and Gerald Daringer of Austria as of June 2025.

Gerald Daringer after the Arctic Experience Swims in Svalbard, Norway

Svalbard is a Norwegian archipelago between mainland Norway and the North Pole. It is one of the world’s northernmost inhabited areas and is known for its rugged, remote terrain of glaciers and frozen tundra sheltering polar bears, Svalbard reindeer and Arctic foxes. The Northern Lights are visible during winter, and summer brings the midnight sun or sunlight 24 hours a day.

Open Water Swimming

• Ger Kennedy completed an Ice Mile in the Svalbard fjord.
• Kinga Korin swam a 1.09 km Ice Kilometer at 78.3°N in June 2017 in the Nordfjorden glacial fjord in Spitsbergen, Svalbard in 20 minutes 5 seconds in the 4.6°C water.
• Leszek Naziemiec swam 1.66 km in 39 minutes 39 seconds at 78.3°N in June 2017 in the Nordfjorden glacial fjord in Spitsbergen, Svalbard.
• Lukaz Tkacz swam 1.85 km in 45 minutes 44 seconds at 78.3°N in June 2017 in the Nordfjorden glacial fjord in Spitsbergen, Svalbard.
• Marek Grzywa swam 1.64 km in 34 minutes 59 seconds at 78.3°N in June 2017 in the Nordfjorden glacial fjord in Spitsbergen, Svalbard.
• Ram Barkai swam 1.66 km in 28 minutes 16 seconds at 78.3°N in June 2017 in the Nordfjorden glacial fjord in Spitsbergen, Svalbard.
• It is site of the Svalbard Ice Swimming Adventure, an ice swimming event organized by Ram Barkai and the International Ice Swimming Association with Michal Starosolski as the Medical Director with 4 events: Ice Mile, Ice Kilometer, 250 meters, 500 meters.
• On 5 May 2022 at Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Petar Stoychev of Bulgaria completed an Ice Kilometer in -1°C (30.2°F) water.
• On 5 May 2022 at Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Lynton Mortensen of Australia completed a Polar Ice Mile in -0.77°C water and -15.90°C air in 33 minutes and 56 seconds.
• On 29 May 2025 at Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Gerald Daringer of Austria completed a Polar Ice Mile in 3.4°C water in 26 minutes and 6 seconds at the age of 48.
• On 8 June 2026, Sam Whelpton of South Africa completed an Ice Mile to become an Iron Ice Woman in Borebukta, Svalbard, Norway in 3.41°C water in 29 minutes 8 seconds.

External links

• Arleen González Swims from the High Altitude of Mexico City to the Low Temperature of the Arctic
• Sam I Am, An Adventurous Iron Ice Woman
• Tina Deeken Makes History with Deniz Kayadelen, Michaela Schwaiger, Silvia Rohrböck, Markus Fleck, and Gerald Daringer in the Arctic
• Heading North, Seeking The Cold, Swimming In The Ice
• Gerald Daringer Invites You To AQUA and ICE, Making The Impossible Possible
• Rewarming with the Bair Hugger after an Arctic Swim
• Gerald Daringer Experiences Pain, Pride, and Satisfaction in the Arctic
• Lynton Mortensen, Doing Ice Miles from Antarctica to Austria, from Morocco to Mount Fuji
• Post-Polar Ice Swim in Svalbard
• It Is Getting Cold Down Under
• Marion Joffle Is Absolutely Positively Tough In Negative Temperatures
• Swimming in Svalbard
• Svalbard Ice Swimming Was An Bold Adventure
• Is Petar Stoychev the Greatest Open Water Swimmer in History?
• Svalbard Ice Swimming Adventure
• International Ice Swimming Association
• Good To Go In A Glacial Fjord
• Bucket Lists Of Ice Swimming
• International Ice Swimming Association
• Ger Kennedy Goes Cold, Long And Rough
• Ram Barkai On Shimmer On Superhumans