Competitive swimmers break the ice to create inaugural swim meet at Lake Johanna

In just a few short months, organizers of an ice swimming competition pulled together an event that brought together a hundred swimmers from all over the world. They competed on Saturday in an inaugural ice swimming race on Lake Johanna in Arden Hills.

The water was just 36 degrees.

Organizers of the MN Ice Swim said this is one of two competitive ice swims in the U.S., and there are only a few in the world. The event attracted Olympic swimmers and renowned competitive ice swimmers to Arden Hills. Athletes competed in 25-meter, 50-meter and 100-meter swims through a 2-lane, 25-meter pool cut into the lake.

Last week, a group of contractors and volunteers spent 8 hours carving out a 12-foot by 82-foot hole in the middle of the lake for the competition.

“We probably took about a couple hundred thousand pounds of ice out of the water already,” said Todd Thorsen, one of the contractors.

The event’s organizer Nick Tamble and others pulled the ice swim together in just 14 weeks. 

“This was miraculous on how this came together this quickly, because normally stuff like this is a year of planning,” Tamble said.

It’s part of an effort to get ice swimming into the 2030 Winter Olympics. It’s a relatively new sport for many, but the community is quickly growing. Tamble said data compiled at this year’s event will be shared with the International Olympic Committee to make a case for ice swimming to be included. 

Cody Miller, who competed on Saturday, is familiar with the Olympics, but not with ice swimming. It was the Olympic medalist’s first time competing in an ice swimming event.

“I like trying hard things, so when I got invited to this event, I was like wow that seems like it’s gonna be a wildly different challenge. I’d never raced in cold water before,” he said. “When Nick reached out and said, ‘Hey we want an Olympian I said I’m your guy — let’s go!’”

Miller, who won gold on the 2016 men’s relay team with Michael Phelps, said ice swimming becoming an Olympic sport could pull him out of retirement. 

“If they make it an Olympic event I’ll be there for the trial. Let’s go. Put me on a relay. That would be fun,” Miller said.

JB Lanza is a competitive ice swimmer and on a mission to complete what’s called the Ice 7s, which is completing a mile long ice swim on every continent. So far, she’s checked off North America, Europe and Africa. She’s hoping to get to South America and New Zealand this year. 

“I think we’ve seen a lot of other Olympic sports that have come and gone like breakdancing that may have been very short lived, but I think if they make this an Olympic sport, it would definitely be something that is very long-term,” Lanza said.

One of the reasons Lake Johanna became the location of the ice swim was due to a large community of ice dippers. Nick Tamble first carved a hole in the ice in 2020 for people to dip in the lake, and it’s been a trend ever since, with hundreds of people flocking to dip in the ice each week of the winter. 

But swimming 25-100 meters in the frigid waters? That’s an entirely different story. 

“So the difference between those things, between the dip and the swim? Fingers,” Tamble said. “Your fingers, even though you're only going 25 will go numb.”

At the end of the day though, those participating in ice swims, or just an ice dip, find the process of submerging in cold water therapeutic. Macy Gearhart first started coming to the ice hole at Lake Johanna with her mom last year and now comes twice a week. She’s able to stay in the water for 20 minutes. 

“It’s very painful when you first get in, and it’s uncomfortable, and it feels like needles and tingly, and after a few minutes you go totally numb,” Gearhart said. “I think it’s good practice for being comfortable with being uncomfortable.”

Whether or not the sport eventually makes it into the Olympics, Tamble says ice swimming has already helped many struggling with mental health.

“When you go in the ice water, there’s just something about it that makes you come into the present moment. So you're not in the past, you're not in the future,” Tamble said.

Organizers hope to bring the competition back next year.

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