Trento, Italy Italy’s Simone Arrigoni is set to attempt a new world record in the dangerous discipline of under-ice swimming.

The 30-year-old diving instructor, who set the current record himself two years ago, will swim without fins and without any equipment other than a 5mm wetsuit.

On February 4 he will take a deep breath and lower himself through a hole in the 50-cm layer of ice covering Lake Lavorone in the Italian Alps. Swimming breaststroke, he will then try to cover at least 30 metres horizontally through the chilly water to reach another hole where he can surface again.

If he succeeds, he will have broken the record. A medical team and other divers with breathing apparatus will be on hand in case Arrigoni succumbs to hypothermia and faints during his record breaking attempt.

The Roman diver’s bid to better his record will take place during a course in under-ice swimming organised by the National Association of Diving Instructors.

Italy has a strong tradition in underwater swimming and has held the record for the deepest dive without breathing apparatus many times, often beating rivals from Cuba and France.

The particular discipline of under-ice swimming is relatively new and at the moment is practised in few other countries.

source: ANSA