The International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame recently announced its 2018 class of inductees, and among the 16 swimmers being added to the prestigious group are four ice swimmers. Congratulations are in order for Anna-Carin Nordin(Sweden), Sarah Thomas (USA), and Jaimie Monahan (USA), inductees who’ve completed ice miles, and to Jacques Tuset (France), an IceK swimmer.
Anna-Carin Nordin was the sixth woman to complete an ice mile, which she did in Mellanfjarden, Sweden on 2 November 2012. She finished in a quick 31:18 and is still the only Swede to have completed an ice mile. Nordin was also the first woman and second person to complete the Ocean’s Seven, an arduous list of seven challenging channel swims around the world.
Sarah Thomas completed her ice mile in Wellington Lake in Bailey, Colorado on 21 November 2015 in a time of 27:07. Wellington sits at about 2,500 meters above sea level, but the altitude was no challenge for the record-holder of the longest unassisted swim, a 104-mile, 67-hour event Thomas completed this past August in Lake Champlain.
Jaimie Monahan finished her first ice mile on 2 April 2016 in Reykjavik, Iceland. A fixture on the international ice and winter swimming circuits, Monahan quickly progressed to one of the hardest feats in swimming, becoming the first woman to complete an Ice Zero Mile, which she did in Tyumen, Russia on 18 December 2016 in -31-degree Celsius wind chill. Next, Monahan said yes to the Ice Sevens Challenge, and in short order, she racked up Ice Miles three through seven in far-flung corners of the globe to become the first swimmer to swim an ice mile on each continent. Her marathon swimming accomplishments are no less awe-inspiring, and for her pioneering swims across several massive European lakes, she was named WOWSA Woman of the Year in 2016. She also won the coveted Marathon Swimmers Federation’s Barra Award for best overall year in 2016.
Frenchman Jacques Tuset, aka the King of the Prison Island Swims, is best known for his penchant for escaping former prison islands (22 and counting). He completed an IceK in Burghausen, Germany this past January and has also completed the English Channel. He was the first French swimmer to cross the Strait of Gibraltar.
Congratulations to all IMSHOF 2018 Inductees!