Dear Frozen ones
2016 has come and almost gone. 2017 is knocking on our frozen doors with a big excitement. In ten days many of us will gather in Germany, Burghausen for the 2nd IISA World Championship. If you are not there, make sure you watch live on our livestream facilities. Our ICE is growing, regardless of the Global warming process, we all doing great job keeping it COOL, COLD and ICY – The Guardians of the ICE. For those of us, recently frozen, sometimes, we refer to our Ice Swimming passion as the “ICE”.
At the moment we have 181 ICE Members, 140 COLD and 618 COOL Members. We have close to 400 1km swims and 246 ICE Mile swims. We have started recording the shorter distances in ICE Events to increase our knowledge base. We have Swimmers form 27 countries and the interest in the ICE is growing.
The ICE has always been an extreme sport, but as we expanded our frozen wings, we attracted many others wishing to expand their boundaries, test them and discover. Extremes always attracts wide variety of people for wide spectrum of reasons. The ICE is no different. The ICE means different things for different people, some come to break barriers, some to compete, some to get out the comfortable lounge and their comfort zone. The ICE is a great levellers, no one can hide in it or behind it, it demands 100% of your attention, nothing less. We are all used to the question “WHY???”. It is an easy question to ask when watching us from the warmth of our home on Facebook, TV, and other media outlets. Don’t Worry, we ask ourselves the same question every time we strip down to almost naked in the freezing outdoors getting ready to get into the ICE. Everyone of us has his or hers own reasoning and motivation, but once in the ICE, it brings us all together, no words required. We know why we do it, well, at least once we warm and recovered. J
The ICE has brought a growing knowledge base across the globe. Teaching people to handle extremes in a professional way. Identify risks and dangers. Study them and understand the. Learn how to deal with them and take oneself to new levels of ability. Medical Officers are rewriting their rescue and survival manuals, many are watching and learning. We are changing perceptions and reality. That is how new frontiers are being defined and each one of IISA Members plays a significant role in this.
There was never a doubt in our mind that Ice Swimming is dangerous and risky. Not only that it is extreme, it is also a winter sport. Many extreme sports and especially the winter or cold ones bring many elements of danger and risk with them. We are learning about it, about its reach and impact and we learn to navigate through it and with it. NEVER against it! Remember – The ICE Always Wins. This is about winning against ourselves, not the ICE!
The ICE is not for everyone. Not because it is an exclusive sport, but because not everyone fall in love with it like some of us do. It is normal and natural. Those who did fall in love with the ICE, enjoy it safely. It is only the beginning.
We have introduced the ICE Cup, the ICE 7s and IISA Officials. As we grow we will have to regulate our sport more and more, making it safer and more accessible. Regulating a new sport always raises objections by the purists, the adventurous and the ones that “knows everything”. It will never be a conventional sport, nor we want it to be one.
IISA safety and integrity is its essence. Therefore we have to treat all under the same set of rules and require them from all, regardless of experience or background. IISA is thriving to be an inclusive sport using its Swimming and Safety rules to bring everyone together, safely!
Have we made mistakes in the past? Yes we have. We will make few more in the future. We learn and adapt everyday, for the better of our Swimmers community.
Our records, results and procedures are becoming the pillar of our events. It may be introducing some administration headache to a free spirit sport. But it sets the foundation for a growing sport with integrity and invaluable trusted information. We plead everyone to work with us, contribute and help us grow safer and better.
