When the champion free diver and multiple world-record holder Alexey Molchanov stepped onto the streaked ice on Lake Baikal in southern Siberia on March 16, the sky was cobalt blue. The sun illuminated the surrounding mountains, the wind was light, and the air a balmy 14 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 10 Celsius).
It was the perfect day for a swim.
But this wasn’t the typical polar bear plunge. Molchanov, 34, hoped to swim 80 meters, or approximately 262 feet, beneath the one-meter thick icy surface and back up on a single breath. In the process, he would break yet another world record.