Finland's Johanna Nordblad Claims Under-ice Freedive Record

Johanna Nordblad plunged 103 metres on Thursday to claim the deepest under-ice freedive in a swimsuit ever recorded, spending two minutes and 42 seconds in water temperatures of two degrees Celsius.

Wearing a short wetsuit Nordblad, 45, achieved the record in the snowy wilderness around Hossa in northern Finland, some six years after becoming the first woman to dive more than 50 metres.

"Because we have this corona thing, all the swimming pools are closed, I can't really train regularly, so I was much more nervous before diving (this time)," Nordblad told AFP in a phonecall.

Governing body for underwater sports CMAS recently took control of measuring under-ice records, which had up to then been run by Guinness World Records and didn't have many rules.

In the 'Guinness' era, the longest distance covered under the ice, in a swimsuit and without fins, was previously established at 102.7m by the Russian Ekaterina Nekrasova, on March 6 this year.