Video: Brave Free Diver Plunges into Freezing Water and Swims Under Ice
Recent record-low temperatures that swept across the United States have made many people start wondering something: How long does it take someone to freeze?
It’s not exactly a pleasant thought. But it’s quite practical when the mercury drops to levels usually only found in the Arctic.
According to Business Insider, the time it takes for someone to enter hypothermia varies according to a number of factors. Circumstances such as age and amount of body fat matter.
Surprisingly, though, any temperature lower than that of a normal body can lead to hypothermia. Experts say that wetness matters, too.
In fact, the United States Coast Guard has stated that people who fall into freezing water can expect to go into shock in less than two minutes. Of course, I doubt that they’ve ever met a man quite like freediver Petr Kapoun.
Laughing Squid highlighted a video of Kapoun swimming under the frozen surface of Lake Milada in the Czech Republic. It begins with a speedo-clad Kapoun floating in a square area cleared of ice.
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A yellow rope trails out of the water and then snakes underneath the ice. Soon enough, you see why its there.
Kapoun takes a deep breath and then thrusts himself under water. After pushing off from the ice shelf, he flips himself over.
You can see the diver looking upward as he swims along, and that’s when you realize what the rope’s for: It’s a guide so that Kapoun doesn’t get lost.
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23.1. 2019 – Milada (North Bohemian Dahab) #freediving #ice #underwater #icediving
He continues to take slow, measured strokes, seeming to glide along without a care in the world. After about 25 seconds underwater, he reaches another hole in the ice and pulls himself free.
Kapoun takes a couple of deep breaths, obviously cold. Then he flashes the “O.K.” sign to let the individual filming him know he’s alright.
That wasn’t the end for him, though. Kapoun then swam back to where he started.
At the end of that chilly run, he looked up into the camera while smiling. “O.K.,” he said once he’d caught his breath.
Would you ever try something like this?
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