Former professional freediver Mandy Sumner etched her name into the Guinness World Record book by swimming a distance of 75 meters under ice in Norway in early March. The feat set a new standard for the longest bi-fin swim under ice by a woman in a swimsuit.
A native of North Berwick, Maine, Sumner made her endeavor to break the world record at a freediving event held at Lake Mysutjernet on March 2nd.
The swim required her to hold her breath for over a minute while swimming under 19 inches of ice in water temperatures of 35 degrees Fahrenheit, all with only a pair of fins and no wetsuit.
Freediving requires divers to hold their breath, and competitions are generally based around either how deep underwater divers can go or how long of a distance divers can cover without breathing. While it is relatively niche in the United States, the sport has a greater following in Europe and other nations around the world.
A lifelong swimmer and fan of the water, Sumner took up freediving in 2013 a few years after moving to Hawaii for work. She began freediving competitively in 2014 and competed for the U.S. at the World Championships in Italy that September.
At the individual world championships in Cyprus, she became the only American to ever win a gold medal with a no-fins 58 meter dive.
Sumner embarked on a series of competitions within the span of just a few months but soon began to hit a wall as routine diving started to take its toll on her body.
Sumner took a step back from competing professionally at the end of 2015, instead opting to focus on her career as a geographic information systems analyst and occasionally going freediving as a hobby and working as a coach when possible.
She began training again in 2023, this time with the goal of achieving the world record, after experiencing a miscarriage earlier that year.
Five other world records for freediving under ice were broken at the same event where Sumner got her record. Poland’s Stanislaw Obdbiezalek swam 110 meters with a monofin, while Norway’s Kristian Tonnen swam 85 meters in bi-fins.
South Africa’s Amber Fillary set three world records in two days. She swam 100 meters under ice without fins, only to break the same record again the following day when she extended her distance to 105 meters. Fillary followed it up by swimming 110 meters under ice with a monofin.
I’m sort of confused by the article. She went 75 meters under ice with fins for a record, but then another woman went 105 meters without fins? Also, it doesn’t mention the article from a month ago that Markus Rogan went 111 meters without fins, longer than the 2 mens records with fins mentioned here (https://swimswam.com/olympic-medalist-markus-rogan-breaks-world-record-for-longest-swim-under-ice-111-2-meters/). Shouldn’t the “with fins” records be longer? Or maybe I’m just confused.
i’m assuming Kristjian is a guy.
Suspect wetsuit vs non-wetsuit
What safety protocols are in place? Are they accompanied by divers with oxygen if needed?
Under ice? Is that on the edge of an open area where she could bail out for safety? I hope so, if not, insane. No, insaner.