Nomination: Leszek Naziemiec

Leszek Naziemiec – one of the first ice swimmers in Poland. A prominent figure in the world of winter and adventure swimming in Poland, he is a pioneer and promoter of winter swimming, as well as a physiotherapist and psychologist. His achievements include:

• Swimming the Ice Mile in the Arctic;
• Participating in the first-ever 1 km race off the coast of Antarctica in extremely low temperatures (-1.2°C);
• Leading a swimming relay from Poland to Sweden;
• Swimming the entire length of the Vistula River;
• Swimming from Robben Island to Cape Town in South Africa, covering 7.5 km in shark-infested waters;
• Swimming Lake Titicaca in the Andes, at an altitude of 3,812 meters above sea level, from Tequile Island to the mainland;
• Being the first person to swim from Gdynia to Hel using a monofin;
• Swimming over 30 km along the famous beaches of Rio de Janeiro;
• And most recently, becoming the first person to swim 250 km down the Yukon River in Alaska.

Leszek Naziemiec is also an environmentalist, highlighting the beauty of unspoiled nature, a poet, and the author of books promoting swimming and the sensory-motor development of children.

Leszek Naziemiec was the first president of IISA Poland (International Ice Swimming Association Poland) and organized the first international competition in Poland under the patronage of IISA.

Leszek is my close friend and, recently, my neighbor. His love for wild water led him and his family to leave his beloved Silesia (a region in Poland) and move to Wolin Island to be closer to the water and the Baltic Sea. Now, we live just 10 km apart.

I am an ice swimmer and open water swimmer, and I participate in winter swimming competitions in Poland as part of the Ice Cup Poland series. I competed in the World Championships in Głogów in 2022 and the European Championships in Oradea in 2024, where I ranked in the top ten in my age category:

• 9th place in the 50 m breaststroke in my age category at the World Championships in Głogów;

• 4th place in the 50 m backstroke in my age category at the European Championships in Oradea;

• 6th place in the 50 m breaststroke in my age category at the European Championships in Oradea.

In December 2022, I swam 700 m inside the Hintertux Glacier in Austria, at an altitude of 3,250 meters above sea level, in water with a temperature of -0.02°C. In July 2023, together with swimmers from Szczecin, I became one of the first Poles to swim over 500 m in 6°C water in the highest lake in Europe – Matscherjochsee, in the Italian Alps.