2024 U.S. National Ice Swimming Championships
- January 12-14, 2024
- Chantilly, Virginia
- SCM (25 meters)
- Full Results (PDF)
The 2024 U.S. National Ice Swimming Championships came to a close earlier this month in Chantilly, Va., as the Brookfield Swim Club successfully hosted the inaugural event out of their outdoor, 25-meter pool. Water temperatures were maintained between 38 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
The meet was not exclusively for Americans, as seven countries were represented along with 18 U.S. states as a total of 48 swimmers competed. The ages ranged from 14 to 78.
Ice Swimming World Junior champion Ezmee Jones won all six events she was entered in the women’s 14-19 age group, as the 17-year-old paced the 100 free, 250 free, 50 back, 100 back, 100 fly and 100 IM.
Sisters Margaret (17) and Vera Rivard (20) also took on daunting schedules, with Margaret racing 12 times throughout five sessions while Vera took on all 13 events. That included the longest event of the competition, the 1000 free, where she clocked 17:24.94.
The event was hosted by the International Ice Swimming Association (IISA), and Joe Zemaitis, a coach at Swim Neptune who raced 10 events himself in the men’s 40-44 age group and has completed the ‘Triple Crown’ in open water swimming, helped bring the event to Chantilly as Chairman of the IISA USA Board of Directors.
“It was a great event… so much fun and an awesome group of people,” Zemaitis said, according to the World Open Water Swimming Association. “We had perfect water temps of 38-40 degrees all weekend and tremendous support from the Brookfield Swim Club in Chantilly, VA. A fantastic start for IISA USA to host Ice Swimming competitions in the US!”
You can get a glimpse of the atmosphere with the live stream of one of the sessions below:
The IISA, attempting to make ice swimming an Olympic sport, was founded in 2009 and will host the inaugural European Ice Swimming Championships next month.
I like how the Chairman of IISA is a coach from Arizona, where it is currently 65 degrees.
What does it actually feel like to swim a race in water like that?
Are flip turns not allowed in this competition?
Open turns only. In water starts as well.
ME DO ICE SWIM
ME FIND FISH
ME EAT FISH
LOVE IT
BOOYAH
I have done ice swimming. I hope to swim in one of these meets in the next few years!
Looks fun! I bet the water was “warm”!