Swimming In The Most Feared Waters Between The Pacific And Atlantic Oceans, This Chilean 'Ice Mermaid' Sets Two World Records

Barbara Hernandez. (Instagram/@barbarehlla_h)

JAKARTA - Chilean swimmer Barbara Hernandez has been awarded two world records after completing a very cold swim last February.

Known as the 'ice mermaid', Barbara swims a nautical mile (1,852 meters) through the Drake Passage, an area between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans in Cabo de Hornos in southern Chile.

On June 14, he finally received his award from Guinness World Records, for completing the 'fastest swimming mile in the Drake Passage' in just 15 minutes and three seconds.

The World Open Water Swimming Association also named him the first person to swim three nautical miles (5,500 meters) between the two Oceans. He completed the total distance in 55 minutes and 17 seconds.

Launching Euronews June 20, Barbara Hernandez is a 36-year-old psychologist and swimmer. She was voted 'Woman of the Year 2021' by the World Open Water Swimming Association.

Barbara Hernandez. (Instagram/@barbarehlla_h)

Barbara has completed swimming challenges and won medals in events around the world, specializing in ice-water swimming, which requires water temperatures between 0-5 °C.

He told Reuters that achieving this latest feat and receiving an award from Guinness allowed him to show Chilean waters to the world.

In addition, he said what he did was also to help explain what is happening, as a climate change effect.

With what she does, Barbara hopes to inspire others to achieve their goals, tell people to dream big and understand how one person can be an inspiration, even from another part of the world.

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Where is Cabo de Hornos located? Cabo de Hornos, also known as Cape Horn is at the southernmost tip of Chile, South America.

To kick off the feat, Barbara and her team set sail from Puerto Williams (Port Williams) and made a 7-hour journey south to Antarctica. These are considered some of the coldest and most feared waters on the planet.

"The main obstacle or obstacle is the temperature of the water. It is very cold, around seven or eight degrees Celsius," explained Barbara.

"It's also a distance where neither woman nor man has ever hacked. It makes us extra careful with things like hypothermia, which can be severe."

During her swim, Barbara was closely monitored by the Chilean Navy. He was not allowed to receive help, stop to rest or even wear a neoprene suit.

The water temperature was around 8.3°C that day. To illustrate, the general advice for swimming for long periods in such temperatures is to wear a winter wetsuit, about 4-5mm thick.

Meanwhile, Barbara when swimming when she broke the record was only wearing a bathing suit.