Immersion: The Aquatic Ice Body

In this chapter, Kelly and Wise focus on performative feats of endurance carried out in ice-cold water, as well as their historical, geopolitical and cultural contexts. Immersion of the human body in ice-cold water has long been associated with transformation and connection with the sublime, while swimming in ice-cold water functions as an extreme risk-taking behaviour, challenging the limits of the individual both physically and psychologically. This chapter explores narratives associated with extreme swimming (including the origins of the practice), touching on Indigenous histories and the Classical origins of a Western literary tradition before moving on to consider twentieth-century and contemporary performances of endurance in ice-cold waters.