Influence of Anthropometric Characteristics on Ice Swimming Performance—The IISA Ice Mile and Ice Km

Beat Knechtle, Ram Barkai, Lee Hill, Pantelis T. Nikolaidis, Thomas Rosemann and Caio Victor Sousa
Additional contact information
Beat Knechtle: Institute of Primary Care, University Hospital Zurich, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland
Ram Barkai: International Ice Swimming Association (IISA), 7798 Cape Town, South Africa
Lee Hill: Department of Pediatrics, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8N 3Z5, Canada
Pantelis T. Nikolaidis: School of Health and Caring Sciences, University of West Attica, 12243 Egaleo, Greece
Thomas Rosemann: Institute of Primary Care, University Hospital Zurich, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland
Caio Victor Sousa: Bouve College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 13, 1-10

Abstract: Ice swimming following the rules of IISA (International Ice Swimming Association) is a recent sports discipline starting in 2009. Since then, hundreds of athletes have completed an Ice Mile or an Ice Km in water colder than 5 °C. This study aimed to expand our knowledge about swimmers completing an Ice Mile or an Ice Km regarding the influence of anthropometric characteristics (i.e., body mass, body height, and body mass index, BMI) on performance. We analyzed data from 957 swimmers in the Ice Km (590 men and 367 women) and 585 swimmers in the Ice Mile (334 men and 251 women). No differences were found for anthropometric characteristics between swimmers completing an Ice Mile and an Ice Km although water temperatures and wind chill were lower in the Ice Km than in the Ice Mile. Men were faster than women in both the Ice Mile and Ice Km. Swimming speed decreased significantly with increasing age, body mass, and BMI in both women and men in both the Ice Mile and Ice Km. Body height was positively correlated to swimming speed in women in the Ice Km. Air temperature was significantly and negatively related to swimming speed in the Ice Km but not in the Ice Mile. Water temperature was not associated with swimming speed in men in both the Ice Mile and Ice Km but significantly and negatively in women in Ice Km. In summary, swimmers intending to complete an Ice Mile or an Ice Km do not need to have a high body mass and/or a high BMI to swim these distances fast.

Keywords: body height; body mass; body fat; endurance performance; water sport (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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