Considered one of the most extreme swims ever performed in the world, in February the Ice Mermaid will seek to break a new Guinness record by being the first person to swim 2.5 km in Paradise Bay, in the Antarctic Peninsula.
Swimming in extremely cold waters, with temperatures of around -2º Celsius, Chilean Bárbara Hernández is preparing to set a new record for the country by becoming the first person to swim 2.5 kilometers in Antarctica, the longest distance in history. The swimmer, known as the "Ice Mermaid", will set sail for the white continent in February to accomplish the feat, without a wetsuit or thermal protection, in a stretch located in Bahía Paraíso, on the Antarctic Peninsula.
Moving between blocks of ice, the athlete seeks to make the polar melting visible and to make a call to protect the environment, hoping to slow down global warming. "We are in a race against time. This place needs protection, our whole future depends on it. We need concrete actions to stop the melting of the ice, which is essential for the survival of our ecosystems," explains Bárbara Hernández. To this, she adds that "the geography of Antarctica has undergone important changes; where 15 years ago there were ice fields, today there is mud, so it is essential to make it a marine protected area as soon as possible".
The 36-year-old swimmer and psychologist seeks to become the first South American to swim all seven oceans, of which she has already swum four: the Strait of Gibraltar (between Spain and Morocco), the Catalina Channel (USA), the English Channel (between France and England) and the Molokai Channel (Hawaii).
In 2021, in the middle of the pandemic, she completed two great challenges: in May she became the first South American to cross the Molokai Channel, and then in August she was the first Latin American to complete the test of swimming two laps around the island of Manhattan. Not only that, last year she was also elected woman of the year by the World Open Water Swimming Association, and chosen among the 100 young leaders by El Mercurio's Sábado magazine. The national athlete has received more than 100 medals in her career, and in 2017, 2018 and 2019 she obtained the first place in the ranking of the International Winter Swimming Association.
Barbara Hernandez is a swimmer with a relentless mentality, which allows her body to withstand the -2 degrees of these waters, which do not freeze due to the salinity of the sea. "Barbara's body can reach 33º Celsius in a state of hypothermia. At that temperature, an ordinary person could die immediately," said Paulina Alvarez, a member of the technical team, who will be in charge of the world champion's recovery. "The idea is that this will be the fastest swim she does because of the danger involved, so she will not be able to eat or drink anything during the swim.
The Antarctica Challenge will be supported by Imagen de Chile, the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC) and the Chilean Navy.
"The world already knows Chile for its incredible landscapes and geography. We want them to know us also for our people and what they can achieve thanks to their talent, vision and ability to contribute to create a better future for the world, and Bárbara Hernández is a clear example of this," said the executive director of Imagen de Chile, Constanza Cea. "In this great challenge that she will carry out, there are relevant factors that unite us as Chileans and that we at Imagen de Chile want to show to the world. First, our capacity to overcome great challenges; second, the importance of caring for our territory and the large protected maritime areas dedicated to conservation that we have in Chile; and third, that we are the gateway to Antarctica, the continent of the future".
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