Mindset

Like many Finns, Elina Mäkinen tried ice bathing for the first time at the age of 5 and officially joined an ice community in 2012 for regular ice bathing and competing. She participated in the world’s first 1km ice swimming world championships in 2015 in Murmansk and completed a sub-zero ice mile in Svalbard in 2022. Elina spends the six-month-long winters in Northern Finland, in Lapland, surrounded by snowy mountains and icy water. A former swimmer and Level 2 swim coach, Elina has trained in wilderness first aid and various winter and avalanche rescue courses. She has completed both a 45-minute hypothermia test at the University of Oulu’s Laboratory and a brown fat activity measurement at Turku University’s Laboratory. In the module “Mindset”, you will learn from Elina how to build resilience, develop cold capacity, and expand cold plunges to ice swimming.

• 2014-2019 Several 1st places in 25 and 50m sprint winter swimming Finnish Championships.
• 2015: 2nd in the women’s overall 1km World Championships and 1st in 450m endurance swim at the inaugural International Ice Swimming Championships in Russia.
• 2016: Set an International Winter Swimming Association world record in the 1000m freestyle at the Big Chill Swim in the UK.
• 2016: Won six gold and one silver medal at the 2016 Big Chill Swim in Windermere, England.Completed a 69.6 km relay swim from the Isle of Man to Northern Ireland.
• 2016: Completed an Ice Mile in Northern Ireland in 2.04°C water in 26 minutes 19 seconds.
• 2018: Became an Ice Ironwoman after finishing a full Ironman triathlon in Estonia.
• 2019: Named one of the World’s 50 Most Adventurous Open Water Women by the World Open Water Swimming Association.
• 2019: Finished 12th overall in the 1000m Ice Kilometer at the 3rd IISA World Championship in Russia.
• 2022: Completed an Extreme Ice Mile in -0.77°C water at Svalbard Ice Swimming Adventures in the Arctic Circle.
• 2023: Inducted as an Honor Swimmer in the Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Class of 2023).