Then: Get in the water. On your marks. It is a ski race... in your swimsuit.
Oulu, Finland. March 2026. A 25-metre pool, sawn out of the river ice. Over 1,500 swimmers, from around 50 countries. Morocco's team trains sitting in barrels of ice from fish factories.
The sport wants the Winter Olympics. First, it has to agree: how cold is cold? The federation born in Oulu calls 5 to 10 degrees "cold". The other has a rule: 5.01 degrees is not acceptable. Above 5, they call it "nice swimming".
And the Olympics? In 2014, an ice-swimming show was planned at the Winter Games. Cancelled. The founder says: "It's a dream. No rush."
Beside the pool: seven saunas. One of them made of ice.
Cold water can stop your breath. Never swim alone.
The film is drawn, not filmed: the pool from above, the broadcast graphics and the 2014 poster are our pictures.
Sources: IWSA rules, iwsa.me (starter's orders "Take off your clothes", "Get in the water", "On your marks"; Category C "Cold water +5C to +10C"; IWSA founded in Oulu in 2006); WSWC 2026, wswc2026.fi (Oulu, 2-8 March 2026, a ten-lane pool on the Oulujoki ice); IWSA "over 1500 swimmers", Yle 3.3.2026 "lähes 1800 uimaria 50 eri maasta" (swimmer counts differ by source); Yle 3.3.2026 (Morocco's team trains sitting in barrels of fish-factory ice); IISA Swimming Rules and Regulations, 1.12.2025 ("A thermometer reading of 5.01 oC or higher is not acceptable"; "Nice Swimming" above 5.0 °C); IISA, internationaliceswimming.com (vision: a Winter Olympic sport); openwaterswimming.com 16.1.2014 (the ice-swimming demonstration planned for the 2014 Winter Games was cancelled); Ram Barkai, Discovery 2018 ("It's a dream, no rush, I firmly believe we will get there"); Outdoor Swimmer 2.4.2026 ("seven poolside saunas", including an ice sauna).
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