Andreas Waschburger: King of the Ice
Successful end to the 2025 Ice Swimming World Championship: Andreas Waschburger shines with two world championship titles and two silver medals
The 2025 Ice Swimming World Championship in Molveno (Italy) from 13 to 18 January 2025 was a huge success for Andreas Waschburger, who dominated the international competitions with two world championship titles and two silver medals.
The Saarland swimmer won the 1000-metre race, the flagship discipline of ice swimming, in an impressive time of 11:43.16 minutes to clinch the title of ‘King of the Ice’. Waschburger set the tone with a thirty-second lead over the second-placed swimmer, French open water swimming world champion Axel Reymond (12:13.16 minutes). The Saarland swimmer also gained another gold in the 500 metres with a time of 5:41.97 minutes.
In his third solo race for the 250-metre distance, ‘Waschi’ came in second in a strong time of 2:43.30 minutes. In the final 4 x 250 metre relay on Saturday, he led the German team to another fantastic success: alongside Alisa Fatum-Böker, Marie-Therese Bartl and Christof Wandratsch, he and the German team secured the silver medal (12:16.30 minutes) behind the USA (12:07.85 minutes), led by star swimmer Keaton Jones. Third place went to the French relay team, headed by Axel Reymond (12:20.03 minutes).
This week has been an incredible experience. Two world championship titles and two silver medals is quite simply overwhelming. I am very satisfied with these world championship results.
Andreas Waschburger’s summary after the competition.
Background:
The competition took place in a 50-metre outdoor pool at a water temperature of 1.8 degrees Celsius. Ice swimming requires a water temperature below 5 degrees Celsius. In addition, no neoprene clothing is allowed in ice swimming – only a standard competition swimming costume. For health reasons, tumble turns are not used, with swimmers instead turning with a push. The swimmers also begin from in the water, rather than by diving. Swimmers wear a safety belt for safety reasons. Rescue divers are on hand to intervene in an emergency.
Ice swimming is an extreme sport that requires training and should be done under medical supervision.