Cold-water swimmers in the Czech Republic set a new world record for the largest polar bear dip
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9:24 AM on Saturday, March 1, 2025
The Associated Press
PRAGUE (AP) — Czech cold-water swimmers on Saturday set a new world record for the largest polar bear dip.
A total of 2,461 participants were involved in the successful attempt on the Most lake in northwest Czech Republic.
The previous record was 1,799 swimmers who participated in the polar bear dip in Mielno, Poland, on the Baltic Sea on Feb. 15, 2015, according to Guinness World Records.
For the record to be recognized, the participants have to be wearing bathing suits, be at least waist-deep in water and stay there all together for at least one minute.
The temperature of the water during the record attempt was 3.5 degrees Celsius (38.2 degrees Fahrenheit). It has to be lower than 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit).
“Czechs are a nation of polar swimmers,” said David Vencl, the organizer of the event.
Vencl, a freediver, himself set a world record four years ago in men’s swimming under ice when he swam a record distance of 80.9 meters (265 feet).
