Getting ready for a competition?

This page sums up how ice swimming competitions generally work: what to prepare before entering, how race day runs, and the most important swimming rules. Where a topic is covered in detail elsewhere, we link to it.

Most rules build on the World Aquatics regulations, which the IISA or other organisations supplement or modify with their own rules. Individual countries and event organisers may also apply rules of their own.

Status: 10 October 2026. This summary is based on the IISA Swimming Rules and Regulations (effective from 1 December 2025). The official, current IISA guidance and the event's own announcement always apply, and the rules may change.

Step by step

1. 1

   Read the event announcement

   Date, venue, distances, entry deadline and fee, medical requirements, schedule, any cut-off times. Every event has its own announcement; find it on the competitions page.

2. 2

   Ask experienced swimmers

   Talk to people who have already raced: they can tell you what to expect. Who to ask: Hall of fame.

3. 3

   Medical documents

   You need a medical clearance and an ECG from within the past year; which clearance depends on whether the event is Hungarian or international: Health requirements.

4. 4

   Entry and payment

   Enter as and by when the announcement says, and pay the entry fee. For international events, the qualifying swim required for the distance must be on your IISA BIO.

5. 5

   Accommodation and travel

   Organise it on your own or as a team. At multi-day events the medical check may be before the opening day, so plan your arrival accordingly.

Race day

At an ice swimming competition you will typically pass through these places and steps:

1. 1

   Medical check (medical room)

   In the medical room, in the morning at a one-day event, and up to 1–2 days before the opening day at a multi-day event. Bring your medical documents. If the doctor does not clear you, their decision is final.

2. 2

   Changing room

   Where you get changed before your start.

3. 3

   Call room

   Report to the call room 30–60 minutes before your start. From there you move on heat by heat; the last room before the pool deck is the "last call room".

4. 4

   Attire check

   Officials check that you wear only permitted items; the waist belt is mandatory. What is permitted: Equipment.

5. 5

   Pool and start

   Your heat is led to the pool; at 500 m and longer your second accompanies you to the start. The pool is 25 or 50 metres at international competitions, and some events also have open water races. It may be a built pool with fixed walls, or a temporary (floating) pool set up in a lake. The start is always from the water, on the start commands.

6. 6

   Recovery area

   After you exit, go straight to the recovery area: usually a warm-water pool, with a jacuzzi and sauna. Your second and the medical staff receive you there. At some competitions (such as World and European Championships) a medical check may be mandatory after the longer distances.

Start commands

The starting method is announced at the technical briefing. Once all swimmers are at the start, the referee gives a long whistle and a hand signal to hand over to the starter. Four calls follow:

1. 1

   "Take off your clothes."

   Strip to your swimming attire with the waist belt at once, and wait standing in front of the ladder.

2. 2

   "Get in the water."

   Climb down the ladder. One hand holds the top of the wall (touchpad) or the ladder, the other is free; your feet are on the wall.

3. 3

   "Take your marks."

   Take your starting position at once. Your whole head stays above the water.

4. 4

   Start signal

   "Go", gun, flash or flag: push off horizontally in the direction of the race and start swimming.

• You always start from the water; there is no dive. Use the ladder to enter and exit.
• A single false start means immediate disqualification; there is no restart.
• There is always a visible start signal as well as the sound.
• After "Take your marks", you must not touch any horizontal surface of the pool: not in the starting position, not while swimming and not at the turns. This means the pool floor and the ledges along the wall. Under the current rules the minimum pool depth is 90 cm, so you may find yourself swimming in shallow water: even then you must not touch the pool floor. Breaking this rule means immediate disqualification.

Lengths to go: in longer events, boards show how many lengths you still have to swim. The last length, or the last out-and-back length, is signalled with a bell.

Strokes and key rules

Freestyle means free choice: you may swim any way you like. Not only the classic strokes (front crawl, breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly) but any style, and you may change your stroke or style freely during the race. But you may not stop, hold on, stand or touch the bottom, and you must not touch the lane rope on purpose. Accidental contact is fine.

• Freestyle

  Any stroke or style is allowed, not just the classic ones, and you may switch between them during the swim. At turns and the finish you may touch the wall with any part of your body.

• Breaststroke

  At turns and the finish, touch the wall with both hands simultaneously.

• Butterfly

  At turns and the finish, both hands simultaneously. Swimmers aged 65 and over may use a breaststroke kick, one kick per stroke.

• Backstroke

  At turns and the finish, touch with at least one hand while on your back. At the finish your whole body may be submerged if this starts within 5 m of the wall.

• Individual medley

  Butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle, each one quarter of the distance. Each section is swum and finished under that stroke's rules.

For every stroke:

• No tumble turns.
• For a two-hand touch, both hands touch the wall at the same time, separated from each other.
• After the start and each turn you may stay underwater for at most 5 m before your head breaks the surface; otherwise you are disqualified at once.
• No eating or drinking during the swim.
• Officials (referee, event director, medical director) may stop your swim at any time if your stroke or condition deteriorates. You must accept this and exit the water as soon as possible.

Cut-off times

Organisers may set cut-off times, typically for the longer distances, to protect swimmers' safety and keep the event running smoothly. The cut-off time must be communicated to all swimmers, but the event committee may still change it on event day. It may also be checked during the race, pro rata at intermediate distances: if you fall behind at a split, your swim may be stopped.

Cut-off times at the current IISA World Championship:

• 1000 m: 22:00

  With a split limit of 11:00 at 500 m.

• 500 m: 12:00

• 250 m: 06:30

For the other events, see the event announcement; the brochure of the 2027 World Championship is on the Documents page.

Other competitions set different limits, usually more relaxed ones; whether there is a cut-off time, and what it is, is always stated in that event's announcement.

Relays

• A relay team has four swimmers, each swimming the same distance.
• The next swimmer may only enter the water once the current swimmer is heading towards their wall.
• The changeover happens in the water: when the incoming swimmer touches the wall, the outgoing swimmer must be touching the wall with any part of their body.
• The medley relay order is butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle.
• 4 × 250 m country relay: the IISA flagship relay. One team per country, two men and two women, in any order chosen by the team; members must belong to that country's association. World records in it are recorded only at the World Championship.
• In other relays, swimmers from different countries may be mixed, and a country may enter more than one team.

Your second

A second is required at 500 and 1000 m, and for an Ice Mile. Your second can be anyone you choose, but they must fully understand the swim process and their own responsibility. A second supports only one swimmer at a time. Para athletes may have a second at every distance.

• Joint briefing

  Before the swim you go through the start, swim safety, the exit and recovery together. They know where your dry clothes are and how you want to recover.

• To the start

  They accompany you from the last call room to the start, help you get ready and look after your belongings.

• Watching the swim

  They watch you personally throughout. If they think you are in distress or danger, they alert the safety officer, the referee or the event director.

• Exit and recovery

  They wait at your exit, take you to the recovery area and hand you over to the medical staff.

• Their authority

  They have no authority, but if they see danger or a rule breach they may tell the referee, who must consider it.

Official documents

This summary is based on the IISA Swimming Rules and Regulations (competition rules in chapter 9), the Medical and Safety Regulations and the event entry terms and conditions. They are listed, with their effective dates and the date of our last check, on the Documents page.