Paris (AFP)

Swimming a hundred meters in icy water under a screed of ice: this is the new trend in dynamic apnea, a confidential discipline which is finally getting organized and attracts performers in search of records.

On Thursday, the Frenchman Arthur Guérin-Boëri signed a feat by diving under the ice of Lake Sonnanen (Finland) to line up 120 meters in length and breaststroke, wearing a wetsuit.

An apnea in water at 2 degrees, which highlights the five-time world champion of dynamic apnea, that which takes place in the pool and horizontally, unlike vertical apnea, that of the depths of the seas, immortalized by Luc Besson's film, "Le Grand Bleu".

"I am an indoor freediver, I am not a + deep dive + as they say, even if I am the most successful freediver in France, it is less selling. This record under ice is the buzz, which allows me to shine more, "Guérin-Boëri told AFP.

Freediving under ice has been practiced for a long time, especially in the Nordic countries, and the Russians are also very fond of it.

But nothing had ever been structured yet.

Records were the business of the Guinness Book, for a fee.

Many were content to line up exploits without official certification.

- Fancy -

Among them, those who shine in wetsuits, and others, the purists, who believe that there is nothing better than a simple swimsuit.

The most frosty of them are called Kristian Mäki-Jussila and Johanna Nordblad, two Finns.

In March 2020, Mäki-Jussila completed 101 m, in swimming trunks, which he did not have validated.

In March 2021, Nordblad swam 103m, making her the first to hold a world record, under the aegis of an international federation.

Since January, the World Confederation of Underwater Activities (CMAS), a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has officially integrated freediving under ice.

"There are more and more records under ice. Even the International Swimming Federation has been organizing cold water competitions for two years. It's a fashion phenomenon, there is this return to nature. We freedivers. , we are 95% a little green! ", notes to AFP Olivia Fricker, vice-president of the national freediving commission at the French Federation for Underwater Studies and Sports (FFESSM), which also links this trend towards the "Wim Hof" method.

- 30% more performance -

Wim Hof, called "Iceman", is a Dutchman who has developed a method of well-being around three pillars of exposure to cold, breathing and concentration.

Beyond feeling better, this icy environment is a performance accelerator, according to Doctor Alexandre Fuzeau, president of the French representation of The International Ice Swimming Association (IISA).

"Ice water increases freediving performance by 30%, we can really improve it, this is where he has records to break right now and the records will fall", analyzes the pioneer of ice water swimming in France.

"The difficulty is to resist the cold and at the same time to be in intense physical effort. Muscle activity is reduced by the cold, but water captures heat 25% faster than air, and Muscle activity in apnea is not very intense. Up to 5 minutes under ice-cold water, there is nothing to fear, "says the doctor, who assures us that everything is a matter of adaptation.

Nothing trivial, however: ice specialists are potentially exposed to a thermal shock which can cause syncope, feelings of suffocation, disorientation, cardiac reactions and the risk of cold on the cornea, details Fuzeau, a "purist" who believes that this kind of performance should be done without a combination.

"I find it indecent with a combination, we cheat a bit with nature".

With or without a wetsuit, the CMAS validates the records, a priori at 100 meters minimum, with safety measures: a protocol before and after the performance, a lanyard (or lifeline) to which the diver is attached and an anti-doping control .

© 2021 AFP