Getting In and Out of 4°C Water

We previously report on the extreme cold-water swim by Ram Barkai (shown on right) and Andrew Chin (with red jacket) in Lake Zürich following standard English Channel rules.

Neither Ram nor Andrew used wetsuits or technical swimsuits in the 4°C (39°F) water with 32°F (0°C) air temperature and 19°F (-7°C) wind chill. 25 minutes after Ram finished the 2.2K swim, his core body temperature has risen to 32°C (89.6°F) from an estimated core body temperature below 30°C (86°F).

"It is border line and I must admit the recovery process was very unpleasant but I felt fine after 30 minutes [even] with core body temp of 32°C!" said Ram. "My skin was the same temperature as the water - 4°C [39°F]."





When asked how he and Andrew prepared for their swim, Ram explained, "We spent couple of hours in the casino building where we started the swim and drank warm sweet tea. We walked in to knee high and we dived in - straight into a swim. Breathing was the biggest challenge - regulate the breathing. [I] try not to take big, deep breaths because you will get very cold very quickly and hyperventilate. Remember, we were breathing -7.5°C straight down the hatch."

After getting out of the cold lake, Ram continued, "[As for] warming up, we got dry as soon as we could [with] blankets and hot air - I sat in a car. Andrew had a long hot shower. Andrew was taken to where we started. I ended up in the public 50-meter indoor pool. I rolled into the kiddy pool and fell very uncomfortable. I then moved to a hot shower (shown on left) and started to defrost quickly."

As for Andrew's preparation, he said, "[It] was a challenge of both mind and body for me. I was very nervous and scared as Ram wanted to swim further than I thought possible. I woke up hours before the swim and mulled things over and over in my head, I was was not going to swim: hospital or worse was not an option for me. Then I calmed down a bit and thought 'Hey, you’ve done 10 minutes so why not do 1K, it's only 20 minutes at most.'"

"If Ram had any fears, he was a lot better than me at hiding them. We had walked the course so I know the markers for 1K, 1.5K, etc. At the casino start (see photo on left), we spent what seemed hours with TV, radio, the doctors and others. The safety briefing turned out to be my salvation as we discovered we had 4 boats on the water and they would allow 1 of us to continue should the other voluntarily decide to stop. I had an out! Just after 2 pm, we entered the water, I splashed myself, but Ram was already in and swimming.

I followed with a shallow dive and a big yelp as the cold took the air out of me…it's freezing! It was hard to breathe properly at the start and my stroke was slightly altered with the left coming out of the water more. We swam along the jetty. I knew I needed to keep my mind active to know how I was doing in terms of the cold, so I repeat Andrew Chin, Monica Spiro, Leila Chin, Rebecca Chin (my little family) over and over to myself."

"I think after this I let my mind go a bit and a felt a few strokes go sloppy and myself swallowing some water. Plus, I was now only saying Andrew, Monica, Leila and Rebecca. It was more difficult. Ram is now a meter or 2 ahead of me and the fun is not there. Normally, I push myself through this moment, but my thoughts are 'that’s it…a few more strokes and I am out.'


A minute later, I stop and put my hand up the signal that I am finished.

I am covered with blankets (see photo on left), space blankets and clothing, I somehow with assistance manage to get into the Polar jacket, the boat is going into the head wind and its icy cold! I am so cold but I just lie still as instructed, I feel 100% safe. Soon the boat stops near the casino and with help I manage to get up and climb off the boat. I feel a little dizzy and lie down on a stretcher; I am covered with blankets which I pull over my head and am stretchered inside."

"In the shower, things improve quiet quickly and I make the water hotter every few minutes, I am shaking violently and my feet are blue and purple, but I know from experience, this will all pass. Finally, I stop shivering (after 20 minutes) and manage to dress myself."

Copyright © 2013 by Open Water Source

Extremely Well-Done in Lake Zürich

Swimming World Magazine reported another extreme swim from Ram Barkai (photo on left) of Cape Town, South Africa.

As a follow-up to his 1K swim in the South Pole, Ram (shown on left) swam with a fellow extreme swimmer, 40-year-old Andrew Chin (photo below) in Lake Zürich following standard English Channel rules.*

How extreme was it? No wetsuits or no high-tech suits in 39°F (4°C) water with 32°F (0°C) air temperature and a 19°F (-7°C) wind chill.

Andrew said after his unprecented 1.37K swim in 23 minutes, "Within minutes of diving into the lake, I lost feeling in my hands and feet. In fact, I was completely numb by the time I decided to stop swimming." In order to take his mind off the pain during his swim, Andrew repeated his wife and children's names in his head while swimming a bit further than his goal. "When I started battling to say their names, I knew it was time to get out. All I remember is the support team dragging me into a boat and covering me in blankets."

Ram, who swam 2.2K in 45 minutes, said he had decided to continue when Andrew got into the boat despite being painfully cold. "The last 500 meters were very hard. I was breathing into a headwind of -7°C (19°C) so each gulp of air was icy and painful. I tried to close my hands into fists, but couldn't. They were frozen stiff."

Towards the end, a police diver in one of the four support boats jumped into the lake and swam alongside Barkai fearing the worst. "I really wanted to finish the swim, but was struggling. I kept my eyes locked on the team doctor each time I breathed and knew if he wasn't worried about me, then I was okay."

Barkai started hyperventilating after finishing his swim, but with support from the doctor he brought his breathing back to normal. The finish of the swim can be seen here on Swiss TeleZüri.

Ram's pain was clearly evident on TV when he can be heard saying to his support team, "I can't move," after being pulled from the water. At the same time, it was also clear that he was concerned for his colleague when he quickly asked, "How's Andrew, is he OK?"

Ram's preparation and acclimitazation to the cold water was admirable. After taking a warm shower, Ram recovered remarkably quickly. "It was only after 30 minutes in a hot shower that I started recovering. I don't remember anything at the end, except that I was dragged out of the water. I couldn't stand."

Despite having swum the furthest south of any human on record, Ram said, "The wind chill factor had made this definitely the hardest swim I have ever done."

Extremely well-done gentlemen.

* Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation rules state, 'No person in a Standard attempt to swim the [English] Channel shall use or be assisted by an artificial aid of any kind, but is permitted to grease the body before a swim, use goggles, wear one cap and one costume. The word 'costume and cap' shall mean a garment, not made of neoprene or rubber or any other material considered by the Federation to give a similar type of advantage, and not in any way designed to contain body heat, and/or aid buoyancy.'

Ram Tough

Ram Barkai, sponsor of the tough 7.5K Cadiz Freedom Swim will swim 3K in 1°-4C (33.8°-39.2°F) waters of Lake Zurich on January 30th, together with Andrew Chin. The Lake Zurich swim in winter will be tough, but Ram and Andrew are very well-prepared. Ram is particularly well-suited, having done a 1K swim in Antarctica in 2008.

Similar to Lewis Gordon Pugh and Lynne Cox, Ram is one of the world’s few truly great cold-water swimmers. Ram says, "Training is the most difficult and nauseous part of his cold-water attempts. It reminds me to respect the cold water with every stroke. When you are swimming on the edge of the human’s ability to cope, you have no idea when your body may give in to the cold. It always looks warmer on the outside once you 'defrost'. Cold-water swimming is usually shorter than long distance swimming due to the extreme risk involved and the limitations of the human body."

Ram’s Swim in Antarctica was held on February 7th 2008 on the last day of the Antarctic summer at 70° latitude near an Indian Scientific station named Maitri. Ram and his team had to hike for 1½ hours through ice and rocks to reach the lake where he would attempt his swim. Ram found a lake with 1°C water while the air hovered around 0°C and he swam 1K.

When asked why he did it, Ram said, "Looking back, I am not sure why I did it, but hell, I am ready to do it again and even maybe try it over a longer distance. I have always been fascinated by the human mind and its ability to push the body far beyond its perceived physical limitations." [Photo on left shows Ram doing a warm-up swim, but that term is used in a figurative sense.]

But entering into 1°C water requires a lot more than physiological and mental preparation. As Ram explains, "The logistics around the swim was a real challenge in itself. No one prepares you for the difficulties surrounding such an attempt in Antarctica. It is basically a huge desert of solid ice. No roads, airports, transportation or any kind of formal assistance. Everything depends on the hospitality of the people who run the scientific stations that control Antarctica. You also need significant amounts of money to fund the project. However, the Russians and the Indians were extremely hospitable and accommodating and together with Patrick Woodhead and his team we managed to get there, find a lake, swim it and come back with only a few numb toes." [See photo on left]

But, the long-term affects of his swim took on various forms: it took Ram 3 months to get the sensation back in his toes, albeit not 100%. It was clear that the swim required the ultimate in mental preparation. "Diving into the 1°C water seems like madness now; however, I remember being so focused that I didn’t really feel the cold, just pain and lack of co-operation from my hands and feet. The water felt like a solution, thick and milky. I had to start swimming immediately without stopping for a second. I constantly had to generate heat and when I turned, it took me 2 to 3 minutes to get back into my stroke. Breathing was especially heavy, I expected it and remembered that the most important thing is NOT TO PANIC. Slow deep breaths, long strokes, no sprinting or hyper ventilating, just trying to get into a rhythm I can keep going for as long as my limbs obey my brain. I was so focused internally on each and every stroke and breath that time went by very quickly. After around 600 meters, I started to feel my limbs getting heavy and less cooperative. It is a very frustrating feeling when your stroke seems to be perfect – in your mind – and you are moving at a snail’s pace. The doctor told me that surviving stage 1 and 2 [of hypothermia] is great, but stage 3 is dangerous and the risk of cardiac arrest increases rapidly after 15 minutes. It is not something you feel developing slowly and then decide to stop it, it just happens and the odds of recovery from cardiac arrest induced by hypothermia are quite slim."

"I started to feel dizzy and unfocused, I knew that my arms felt very heavy and my stroke was extremely inefficient. The last 100 meters were a little hazy. I knew I made it, but I had to get to the end and I couldn’t really walk or talk. The team helped me into a small expedition tent to warm me up. I wasn’t feeling great. I was frozen and feeling nauseous. I couldn’t drink, but I was very thirsty."

"It took me around twenty minutes to come back to reality, dress back into Antarctic gear and step out the tent. I felt delirious and in desperate need for a single malt to celebrate my success."

Here is to Ram’s next dream on January 30th in Lake Zurich.

Copyright © 2010 by Open Water Source

Meet the Deadline for Zurich

Applications for the 22nd annual 26.4K International Self-Transcendence Marathon Swim from Rapperswil to Zurich across Lake Zurich in Switzerland will be accepted beginning December 15. The International Self-Transcendence Marathon Swim will be held on July 26, 2009.

Like many open water swimming events, the popularity of the International Self-Transcendence Marathon Swim is rapidly increasing and the maximum number of entries are quickly filled.

Interested swimmers are strongly encouraged to complete and airmail their applications on or by December 15th. race application can be obtained here.

Photos from the Sri Chinmoy Races gallery.