No special suit! The ice mermaid performed a chilling stunt with ease

Hernández covered more than 2.5 kilometers in the icy ocean. This was the key boundary. She was in the water for more than three quarters of an hour.

The water was only 2.2 °C, the swimmer went into it just ‘lightly’ – without a neoprene suit and protective coating.

The 37-year-old psychologist and athlete, also known as the ‘Ice Mermaid’, said that the motivation for this performance is not only the pursuit of a record, but mainly the opportunity to raise awareness of the need to protect Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. In short, he claims that he places his sports within the framework of nobility.

“It wasn’t just about achieving the impossible, it was about starting to talk more about taking care of these particular waters and everything that’s going on with climate change. That’s really the background of what drives me and the whole team. We’re proud that we can make this incredible place famous all over the world, I am very grateful for this opportunity,” said the daring swimmer.

But even the sports performance itself is remarkable. “It has been my dream for more than 10 years to swim like this in Antarctica and reach the ‘end of the world’,” she said after the extraordinary stunt, which was helped by the support of not only her own team, but also the Chilean Navy.

“Together they helped me recover, put myself together. It’s an extreme swim that requires a lot of preparation.”

Regeneration was also difficult for the swimmer. “I had significant hypothermia, my body temperature reached 27 degrees. You need to be very prepared to swim in these conditions. Not only physically, but also mentally. We have worked very hard for three years to have the opportunity to complete this swimming goal.”

Hernández has already drawn attention to herself several times. Among other things, the World Open Water Swimming Association honored her for being the first person to swim three nautical miles between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans around Cape Horn in the south of Chile some time ago.