Reino von Wielligh, South Africa’s ice-swimming record-setter, is gearing up for his next big challenge: the 2025 IISA World Championships in Italy. With three world records under his belt, Reino talks about the journey that’s brought him here—from intense training to the mental fortitude it takes to face near-freezing waters. Read on to find out what drives this remarkable athlete.
Reino: In 2022, my life took a turn after I was involved in a serious accident in which my girlfriend at the time passed away. Swimming helped me get through the toughest of times.
Following what had happened in my life, I wanted to challenge myself to overcome anything I put my mind to. After being invited to the 2022 SA Ice Swimming Nationals by Ram Barkai, I fell in love with the sport’s physical and mental demands.
I went on to compete at my first World Champs with just one qualifying swim under my belt and ended up 5th overall. I’m now looking forward to competing in Italy in 2025, especially as IISA continues to experience tremendous growth and works towards inclusion in the Winter Olympics.
Reino: Ice swimming is definitely unique- it entails swimming in water below 5 degrees Celsius with a normal costume, single cap and goggles! Living in South Africa, cold water is hard to come by, so I keep up my fitness by training with my distance team at TUKS under Coaches Mark Randal and Rocco Meiring. For cold conditioning, I take weekly ice baths at 5°C for 15 min, gradually increasing the frequency and lowering the temperature as the competition gets closer.
Reino:My typical week of training consists of 9 swim sessions totalling an average of 60-70 km per week followed by my weekly ice bath to keep my body accustomed to the cold.
Reino: I think the secret to adapting to the cold is consistency. You will be amazed at how fast your body can adapt. My advice? Stay as warm as possible until your swim, don’t start too fast and make sure you keep your heart rate steady by focusing on your breathing.
Reino: It’s definitely a challenge. After the first few seconds, you start losing feeling in your hands and feet, slowly you can feel your body shutting down. Mentally it can get very tough as you need to keep pushing and reminding yourself to focus on your breathing and each stroke as you can’t feel the water anymore from the cold.
The warmth inside keeps me going, even as I lose feeling in my hands and feet. I know that my body can handle more than my mind tells me it can. I remind myself of everything I’ve overcome, including the accident, knowing that you can do anything if you have the mindset to fight to overcome the cold, or anything else life throws your way
Reino: Absolutely! I rely on Spurt prescription goggles; they’re the only affordable prescription goggles in South Africa that help me see clearly in training and open water races. Plus, they’re also very comfortable! I also wear various Spurt caps during training as well as kickboard and pull buoys to assist my training and stroke correction.
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Reino: My advice is to finish what you start. When you set your mind to something don’t give up until you have reached your goals.
Training for ice swimming can be daunting, but it’s also a growing sport. If anyone in South Africa is interested, they should consider trying out at the SA Nationals—it’s a great way to see if it’s for you! You can reach out to IISA South Africa here.
Reino: Like most sports in South Africa, it is self-funded, so we often rely on community support. I’m running a BackaBuddy campaign to raise R60,000 to cover my costs to compete at the 2025 World Champs. Every bit helps, and any support would mean the world to me as I prepare for this event.
If you’d like to support Reino’s journey, please consider donating through his BackaBuddy campaign for the 2025 IISA World Champs. You can also follow his journey on Instagram at @reinovw_iceswimmer.
