Bárbara Hernández: Against the Current
Against the Current
Standing on the shores of the freezing Lake Argentino, with the enormous i ce wall of the world- famous Perito Moreno Glacier looming in the background, Bárbara Hernández was overcome, almost paralyzed, with fear: Would she be capable of withstanding the freezing water temperatures?
A swimmer since the age of seven, this was the first time she had attempted something like this. She already had some amazing accomplishments under her belt, like crossing the Magellan Strait and the Chacao Channel, both in Chile, even though back then, in 2014, she had felt like a mere novice among experienced swimmers from different parts of the world that had come to compete in the
International Winter Swimming Festival. Swimming with neither wetsuit, nor the use of grease nor lanolin, she felt every drop piercing her skin like a needle, but nonetheless managed to overcome the mental barrier. Not only did she manage to endure the cold waters, but finished first overall in the women’s category in the 1-kilometer race.
What might be considered extreme, and unnecessary, suffering for many was, for her, the spark that lit a flame in the depths of her being. “I never thought that my body was going to be able to withstand swimming at two degrees Celsius. I had this feeling that I could push myself further,” Hernández remembers, speaking about her first experience with ice swimming, a discipline that organizes
world championships every two years and which aspires to become an Olympic sport. Born in Santiago, Hernández represented Chile in open water swimming competitions until 2006, after which she began focusing on a virtually unheard-of sport in this part of the world, specializing in different distances and styles of ice swimming.
Hernández set herself a goal of investing a good part of her time and energy in this emerging passion, juggling it with her career as a psychologist. Through pure perseverance and unflinching determination, she has earned herself the nickname the “Ice Mermaid”. Ranked number one in the world in the winter swimming “C” category (swimmers aged 30 to 39), the 34-year old has become the constant front runner in the International Winter Swimming World Cup circuit. Recently, she added seven silver medals and one bronze from competitions in Latvia, which will add to prizes already won in countries recognized as leaders in the sport, like Russia, Estonia, England, and Belarus.
But beyond the competitions, Hernández wants to take it a big step further. One of her greatest aspirations is to complete the Oceans Seven, long-distance open-water swims across the seven most dangerous sea channels in the world that is considered the equivalent of the Seven Summits Challenge ( climbing the highest mountain on each continent). To date, she has crossed three off the list: the English Channel (37km from Dover, England, to Calais, France), which she completed in 12 hours and 13 minutes; the Catalina Channel (34km from Santa Catalina Island to Long Beach, off the coast of California), done in in 10 hours and 11 minutes; and the nearly 20km Strait of Gibraltar (which connects Tarifa, Spain, and Point Cires, Morocco), which she completed in 3 hours and 5 minutes. Next year, Hernández hopes to cross the North Channel in Ireland and the Molokai Channel in Hawaii, and eventually also cross the Cook Strait in New Zealand and the Tsugaru Strait in Japan.
Patagonian Mermaid
But a big part of Bárbara Hernández’s heart lies in Patagonia, where it all began. After her debut in Argentina, she focused her energy on swimming in Chile. With the large number of glaciers in Chile, it didn’t seem necessary to go anywhere else. Besides the physical endurance needed for this type of sport, the swimmer has also had to face other types of challenges, such as convincing the non-believers, particularly the incredulous Chilean authorities, that it was doable. “At first I had to show videos because they did not believe me. They were convinced I was going to die. No one wanted to take the risk,” she remembers.
And so, with unwavering enthusiasm, she went on achieving new milestones. Hernández was baptized in swimming with glaciers near the Jorge Montt Glacier, in the far north of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, near Caleta Tortel. She later added other trips to the Steffen, Calluqueo, O’higgins and Grey glaciers, the latter at Torres del Paine National Park. This was unprecedented in the country, especially swimming without the use of a wetsuit, lubricant or lanolin.
“Everyone came to see me because no one believed that it was possible, and nobody believed that I was the swimmer, they imagined it would be someone else,” says Hernández, who is of medium stature, with dark hair and always wearing a broad smile. “Everyone was cheering for me, so I believe I owe a lot to Patagonia.” One way of showing her gratitude has been to raise awareness about the need to protect this magical corner of the planet. Along with supporting open water swimming, she gradually has become an environmental activist in Chile. “We have oceans, rivers and lakes, but we don’t know how to look after and enjoy them,” she says.
“One of her greatest aspirations is to complete the Oceans Seven, longdistance open-water channel swims in seven continents, the equivalent of the climber’s Seven Summits Challenge.”
Hernández says contributing to conservation in Chile has given her passion for the sport a whole new meaning; it’s not just about swimming now. Nevertheless, behind her success is a contradiction: she has received considerable financial support from Chilean businessman Andrónico Luksic, who has built his wealth from investments in mining and other industries that have a controversial environmental record.
Like a fish in water
The lack of public and private support for her endeavors, largely due to the lack of awareness about the sport in Chile, has been a constant problem throughout her career. Even today Bárbara Hernández feels like she is more recognized abroad than in her own country. Not even Chilean open water swimming legend Jorge “the Shark” Contreras could offer much help, there were no Chileans with experience in ice swimming. Instead, she sought out swimmers from other countries for support and advice in this discipline, and in this way learned about the cold, the pain, and that unstoppable trembling that overcomes you when you emerge at the surface.
The decorated Chilean Olympic swimmer Kristel Köbrich shared the first years of her career with Bárbara Hernández, and it was in the water where they forged a close relationship that endures to this day. “Barbara is a very positive person, a special friend, generous, and always 100% in everything,” she said. But she says what most sets Hernandez apart is her ability to focus and go after her goals. “She has faced many hurdles along the way— said Köbrich—, but she has been able to passionately claw her way ahead. I admire her a lot for that.”
“The process is always hard, often very frustrating, because clearly I do not live off of this, but I do it because I love it, it is what makes me happy, and for that I am willing to persevere,” acknowledges Hernández.
The “Ice Maid” transforms when she is in the water. For Hernandez, it is like entering another world, crossing a threshold in which she lets go of everything. “That is what keeps you going when everything else is difficult,” she says. Whether she is competing or beside a high glacial wall, accompanied by people who selflessly believe in her, that is where she feels whole: “It fills your soul and gives you a boost to endure when you are tired, when you need to keep going.”
But once in the water, the swimmer also experiences constant pain. And so she concentrates on her rhythm, entering into a sort of trance, absorbed in what she is doing, in each movement; where there is no room for anything other than the here and now. It is her own form of meditation, completely aware conscious of her breathing and the beat of her heart.
Indelible memories like the nearly 30 dolphins that swam beside her in the Catalina Strait, or dawn in the English Channel, are among the most unique sensations that the swimmer will treasure forever. But what motivates her most to take her body to these extremes is to surpass her own limits,
despite the uncertainty and inherent risks. “What always motivates us as athletes, in whatever area, is that even faced with fear and doubt, you need to trust in your own preparation and push yourself a little further,” states Hernández.
When a person is suddenly exposed to icy water, a series of immediate physiological changes occurs that can lead to decreased awareness, and that ultimately leads to drowning without the individual necessarily realizing it. In normal circumstances, that takes between 30 and 60 seconds to occur if certain conditions are not met. If it goes beyond that first phase, a progressive process of temperature loss occurs until, when it gets to a point when water temperatures are hovering around 4 degrees Celsius, that loss of consciousness is inevitable. This is something that normally occurs after half an hour of suffering from severe hypothermia.
According to Pablo Muñoz, an expert in emergency medicine in extreme environments, to overcome this initial shock, one must remain calm, because the increased rate of breathing can lead to the loss of consciousness. It produces a sudden contraction of muscles in the thorax which compromises circulation and generates a decrease of blood flow to the heart and the brain.
Thus the way in which swimmers like Bárbara Hernández enter into the icy waters turns out not to be without preparation. It is a slow and gradual process, focused on preventing that initial shock. After that is what she describes as constant suffering. According to Muñoz, who knows up close the experiences of this extreme swimmer, the global circulatory flow is primarily restricted at the body’s core, then the peripheral circulation, of the extremities, is reduced to a minimum in order to concentrate circulation toward the core. It is something called peripheral vasoconstriction, which compensates for the loss of heat and brings on a progressive decrease in sensitivity. Hypothermia is inevitable, but its compensatory response is moderated by the training to which she periodically subjects herself to.
“It is very similar to what someone who goes up to 8,000 meters of altitude without supplementary oxygen does. It cannot be done from one moment to the next, but it can be done after a process of training and acclimatization,” explains Muñoz, who is also a specialist in mountain medicine. “Does she have an anomalous physiological constitution? No, she is like all human beings. But her preparation is exceptional, and she probably has exceptional mental conditioning and resistance, too. That enables her to go to the extremes, and at the extremes there are no parameters.”
But any athlete, no matter how welltrained, if they do not get out of the water at a certain point, they will not come back to tell the tale. Like any mortal, the “Ice Mermaid” has time limits. And that inherent risk also goes hand in hand with a certain dose of pleasure.
“It is very difficult what she does, she has to prepare beforehand, during, and after each race. But she knows herself and knows that she can deal with anything that comes up. It is admirable the endurance that she has at such low temperatures,” says Köbrich.
It’s been said that for those who are faithful to their passion, the sky is the limit. And maybe that is the greatest lesson to be learned from Bárbara Hernández: that if one is consistent in the pursuit of one’s dreams one can achieve anything. And she has many more adventures to reach for. She wants to swim in Antarctica, or besides the Pío XI Glacier, perhaps the largest in Patagonia. Or, why not, all of the glaciers in this far-flung corner of the world. But always in the same way. “Only the water and I, that is what I love”.
“You need to trust in your own preparation and push yourself a little further.”