NOMINATION AND SELECTION CRITERIA

The INTERNATIONAL ICE SWIMMING HALL OF FAME SELECTION CRITERIA

The Ice Swimming Hall of Fame aims to recognise and honour leading Ice, Winter and extremely cold water swimmers and sports contributors. The sport is growing, with thousands of participants all around the world. Many competitions, solo and adventurous swims in beautiful frozen locations.

The Ice Swimming Hall of Fame is a timeless place to record Swimmers and sports contributors. Honorees are selected based on their achievements over their lifetime and impact on the sport. They are there to immortalise the sport and provide inspiration and role models for future generations.

HISTORY AND RECORDS

Eligibility into the Ice Swimming Hall of Fame requires that all swimmers and contributors have a history of at least five years in Ice Swimming, Events and Adventures. A few exceptions may occur for a single/incredible one-time swim which captures global attention.

NOMINATION

Being an Honoree in the International Ice Swimming Hall of Fame is a lifetime award, not winning a specific competition or breaking a record. It needs to be considered in nominations that a nominee has a lengthy and significant record in the sport. When nominating an athlete, one must use factual information records that can be verified, not superlatives and unsubstantiated claims for swims or records. Make sure you have done your homework before submitting a nomination and that it is based on excellence and worth.

SWIMMERS

For swimmers, it is their record of Ice or Winter swims, world records, impressive adventure swims, performance longevity and remarkable Ice miles. Identifying achievements that set them above the rest during the lifetime of their career is essential. All swims must be done according to Ice Swimming Rules with Ice Swimming Attire: one silicon cap, one pair of goggles and a pair of allowed swimming costumes unassisted with all safety requirements before, during and after the swim are fulfilled without compromise.

CONTRIBUTORS

For contributors, this includes administrators, organising bodies, officials, members of governing bodies, media, coaches, environmental awareness and events.  People or organisations that have left their mark on the sport forever and added elements of safety, integrity, growth and development of the sport.

EVENTS AND ADVENTURES

This category is there for unique once-off special events or adventures that are so amazing that they need to be immortalised in the IISHOF. It needs to be considered within two years of its completion. The nomination is not for the individuals participating in the event or the adventure but for the event/adventure itself. Only the event/adventure will be recognised as Honoree, not its participants.

SELECTION AND VOTING PROCESS

NOMINATION

The nomination process is there to canvass candidates and honorees. Being nominated to the Hall of Fame is an honour; be factual and respect the honour and the criteria.

  • Nomination will open every two years, and awards will be presented at the relevant IISA World Championship.
  • Anyone can submit a nomination if it is based on merit and facts.
  • For one-time special events, nominations must be made within two years of the event.
  • You are not allowed to nominate yourself or your event or organisation.
  • You can submit multiple nominations, but not for the same swimmer or contributor.
  • It will be rejected if your nomination lacks facts and references or required input.
  • If your nomination is done unprofessionally or disrespects the process and criteria, all your nominations will be rejected.
  • If your nomination has not been accepted, an identical nomination requires one nomination period “cooling down” before submitting the same nomination again.
  • Only Nominations received through the website forms will be accepted.

SELECTION

The Board does the initial selection process. The initial selection will screen for the integrity of the information received and record achievements, awards, and any claims. Once that is done, the final list will be put forward for voting by the exiting honorees and the board. 

VOTING

The Honourees and the board will do the voting process. Each member has one vote, with the Chair casting a vote if required. The Board will decide how many Honorees will be accepted in each category for each nomination period. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND AWARDS

Once the voting is completed, the board will compile the results and communicate them to the new Honorees for acceptance. Once accepted, it will be communicated to the public.

SAFETY AND INTEGRITY

Honorees will live the values of the International Ice Swimming Hall of Fame, including commitment, safety, integrity, courage, respect and excellence.

Safety in our sport is paramount for its existence and success. A track record of negligence, known gross negligence, or disrespect to the sports safety requirement will be considered when selecting an honoree and possibly removing the honoree.

Drug Test Failure (adverse analytical findings, atypical findings, and other assorted anti-doping rule violations) by WADA or an authorised WADA body in any aquatics sport prevents a nominee from being selected and results in the removal of an honoree from the International Ice Swimming Hall of Fame.  This does not apply if the finding is overturned on appeal (reduction or removal of any punishment on appeal is not considered if the finding is not overturned).  This can be a current or future test on an old sample.

Conviction of Sexual Assault on a Child (and all appeals exhausted) by a local court prevents a nominee from being selected and results in the removal of an honoree from the International Ice Swimming Hall of Fame.

Fraud in an organised fashion to create false records (for example, an organisation altering observer logs or selling false completion certificates) prevents a nominee from being selected. It removes an honoree from the International Ice Swimming Hall of Fame.

Encourage participation by all interested swimmers and contributors.   Individuals or Organizations which repeatedly engage in creating entry barriers or a non-welcoming environment based on disability, race, country of origin, sex, or sexual orientation/preference do not meet our ethics criteria. The International Ice Swimming Hall of Fame continues to monitor this criteria and evolve it over time.

​Unfortunately, the five specifics above may not be exhaustive in the future.  The International Ice Swimming Hall of Fame deplores any ethical violations that seriously diminish the reputation of the International Ice Swimming Hall of Fame and the sport of open water swimming.  Even a charge or suspicion of such an ethical violation may cause a nomination or announcement to be withdrawn.

For Honorees, the International Ice Swimming Hall of Fame will generally wait for a court determination (and appeals exhausted) before removal is considered.  Where an individual has been removed from the International Ice Swimming Hall of Fame – there will be no references or individual pictures on this website.