First in the world to swim 2.5 km in Antarctica

(Santiago de Chile) Chilean swimmer Barbara Hernandez, the first in the world to swim 2.5 km in the icy Antarctic Ocean, confides to AFP that she felt her “heart as if frozen” during her sporting achievement in 2 degree water .

Dressed in a simple traditional swimsuit covering only the top of her thighs, wearing a bathing cap, wearing goggles and earplugs, she swam 45 minutes and 30 seconds. A record validated by the International Winter Swimming Association (IWSA) and which should enter the Guinness Book of Records.

It was February 5 in the morning, in the middle of the icebergs, near the island of Greenwich in the Shetland archipelago, in the Southern Ocean. The conditions were ideal, with a light swell and little contrary current.

The 37-year-old “ice mermaid” jumped from a Chilean navy boat into water barely reaching 2 degrees Celsius.

“It was a super difficult, tough swim. After the first kilometer, I had the impression that I would never reach the buoy, I remained very focused on the technique, on the kicks, “she told AFP, Saturday in a cafe in Santiago.

“I felt my arms getting heavier and heavier because the blood stopped circulating in my hands and feet” because “the body […] prioritizes internal organs and the brain,” she explains.

It was a clear sign that hypothermia was setting in and could lead to his death from cardiac arrest.

Barbara Hernandez says she “felt at times like something icy, not the skin but inside”. “I felt like my heart froze,” she observes.

Next goal: New Zealand

But she says she never imagined giving up because this record is motivated by the defense and preservation of the oceans.

“What I fear is that Antarctica will continue to melt. It really scares me […] When I was swimming, that was one of my thoughts. My legs hurt, but I felt strong. I said to myself: it’s not just for me, it’s the cause that we wanted to make visible. It gives you another boost,” she says.

Once they crossed the finish line, her team quickly pulled her out of the water to help her recover her body temperature, which had dropped to 27 degrees instead of the usual 37.

Barbara Hernandez has never lost consciousness, even if she has some memory lapses.

In this particular discipline of swimming in icy water, the Chilean says that her “biggest rival is fear”. Not the one for himself but “the fear of failure, of disappointing people who trust you”.

It’s not the challenges that scare her, as she flew to New Zealand on Sunday to swim the sixth of its “Seven Oceans” whose objective is to swim through channels or straits around the world, ranging from 15 to 47 kilometers. She hopes to finish in August in Japan and thanks to her exploits to further prosper the cause of the preservation of the oceans.