Russian Swimmer Claims New World Record With Baikal Under-Ice Swim

Moscow swimmer Yekaterina Nekrasova has claimed a new world record for the longest under-ice swim on Lake Baikal, the world’s deepest and oldest lake.

Bone-chilling footage showed Nekrasova swimming an 85-meter distance beneath the ice without surfacing for 1.5 minutes. She breaststroked through the 0-degree-Celsius waters wearing neither a wet suit nor flippers.

The video showed backup teams cutting through the 25-centimeter-thick ice at regular intervals in case Nekrasova, 40, needed to abort the swim. 

“Eighty-five meters! A world record!” a voice can be heard saying as Nekrasova flashed an “OK” sign after surfacing into the frigid air of minus 22 C.

State media reported that Nekrasova had accomplished the feat at an annual Orthodox Christmas swim meet on Lake Baikal last week.

It did not report whether the Russian Book of Records or Guinness World Records were on hand to document Nekrasova’s achievement, which beat the current under-ice swim record of 70 meters set by South African Amber Fillary in Norway last year.