The first edition of the European Ice Swimming Championships will take place in Oradea, February 1-4, organised by the International Ice Swimming Association (IISA), the Oradea City Hall and the Oradea Municipal Sports Club.

“The venued of the championships will tbe the outdoor Olympic pool in Bratianu Park. The races will take place in water temperature of 5.0C unassisted, with a silicon cap, pair of goggles and standard swimming costume. More than 300 swimmers from 27 countries will be competing, with 316 athletes registered as of last night, 111 for the women’s races and 205 for men’s. Registrations can be made until January 12. There will be races on February 2, 3 and 4 by age groups from juniors, 15 years old, up to 60 plus,” Oradea swimmer and coach Ovidiu Tirla, a 2022 world champion and member of the organising team, told AGERPRES on Wednesday.

According to him, the European Ice Swimming Championships will include standard swimming event starting with 50m races in four styles – freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly- continuing with 100m in the four styles, 250m freestyle, 500m freestyle and 1,000m freestyle.

Romania has lined up 32 athletes for the championships, with Ovidiu Tirla being the only swimmer to represent the host city