Harrowing moment extreme cold swimmer gets trapped under ice and drowns in frozen lake
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A cold water swimmer drowned after losing his sense of direction under a frozen lake and becoming trapped under the icy surface. Experienced swimmer Lu Man is believed to have attempted a challenge which required swimming underneath ice from a hole to a cave around 10 metres deep. However, he got into difficulties shortly after entering the frozen lake in Zhangjiajie City, Hunan Province, China.
Search and rescue teams arrived at the lake shortly after the enthusiast began experiencing problems on Saturday, January 4. Cuts into the ice were made, but his body was not recovered until the next day. It was reported Lu lost his sense of direction while swimming in the murky water under the frozen ice. Experts agreed because the light is minimal, it is difficult for swimmers to distinguish the direction.
Light refractions and reflections from ice can also create visual illusions which may make it tough to determine where to exit the lake. According to experts, the water flow and whirlpool under the ice may also change the position of swimmers causing it to become more difficult to locate a way out.
Swimming under the ice can also induce feelings of nervousness which can further affect their judgment and decision-making ability. Since the devastating accident, swimming experts have reminded people swimming under ice is completely different to being in open water.
Meanwhile, in New York City, two children died after a 12-year-old boy plunged into a frozen lake and an 11-year-old girl jumped in to try and save him. The tragedy happened at around 4.35pm local time on Saturday in Albany, New York, when the boy is thought to have been walking across the frozen Washington Park Lake in the direction of a lake house.
