Free-diver shatters ice-swim world record

Vencl said he felt great after emerging from his minute-and-half swim in water measured at 37 degrees Farenheit (3 C) and pumping his fist in celebration.

The 38-year-old changed the location for the record attempt to a former quarry in Lahost, 62 miles north-west of Prague, from a glacial lake in Austria due to COVID restrictions which made international travel difficult.

Vencl, who dropped into the water through one hole cut in the one-foot-thick ice before emerging from another, beat the previous record of 250 feet set by Denmark's Stig Avall Severinsen in October 2017 in southern Greenland.

The Czech swimmer said he would have to wait eight to twelve weeks to receive official confirmation of his world record but added he felt "huge potential" in his attempt, saying "It was faster than I expected it. I felt great, after all, I trained a lot. I was under the ice three times for 75 meters (246 feet) during my training."