Ailén Lascano, the swimmer who has left her comfort zone and discovered her best version in cold waters

When she discovered winter swimming quite by accident about five years ago, Ailen Lascano found its place. He had always felt a special attraction for water and nature and for competition and big challenges; and this activity, which is gradually gaining followers in our country, has united all those passions. She today she is one of the great Argentine ambassadors of that sport and, at this moment, she will leave for Europe to play in Samoëns her third World Championship.

The appointment in that French community, located in the Rhône-Alpes region, will be only his third official tournament since March 2020. It will be due to the coronavirus pandemic, first, and the postponement of that ecumenical tournament – which was to be held in Russia in March and was suspended (and changed venues) after the outbreak of war in Ukraine, he went more than two years without competing. He returned in early December, in World Cup from Tallinn (Estonia) and from burghausen (Germany). And for the 31-year-old from Rio Negro, that return meant returning to his place.

“I was a little nervous about the competition and how I would feel, because it had been two years, but it was getting back to what I liked. I felt super good and comfortable. I already knew what to expect. It didn’t happen. It didn’t happen to me. cost at all,” he said clarion.

Why could it have cost him? Because Lascano competes in extreme conditions: in lakes and outdoor pools, almost always with snowy landscapes in the background, with water at very low temperatures… and without a neoprene suit. This is the sport he loves so much.

“The truth is that those two World Cups were very cold. I expected them to be cold, but not that much. However it was nice, because it’s part of the sport,” he admits with a laugh.

“It was incredible. When we arrived in Estonia, it was one degree below zero. On the day of the competition, the temperature dropped to -8°C, with -13°C thermal. On one of the days, when I went entering the swimming pool which had been empty for several minutes, stalactites had formed in the cableways, these are strong images, because one is prepared, but when something like this happens, you think ‘What am I doing?’“, he said.

And he continued: “Something similar happened in Germany. We went from 5 degrees when we got to -3°, with a wind chill of -8°, on the day of the tournament. It hasn’t stopped snowing. And l last day, I saw that the lake was freezing next to us (Editor’s note: Swimming pools are usually built in natural lakes), but the cable cars didn’t freeze because the water was in constant motion, series after series. It was crazy.”

In those two contests – which opened the IWSA season (International Winter Swimming Association, one of the two bodies that regulate the practice of this sport, in water up to 9 degrees) – he reached the podium in all the races he ran. In the first, played in the port of Tallinn, he was gold in the 25, 50 and 100 free; 25 and 50 chest; and 25 butterfly. In the second, at lake Wöhrsee, in Burghausen, he won the 25, 50, 100 and 200 freestyle; chest from 50 and 200; and 25 butterfly; and finished second in the 25m and 100m breaststroke and 450m free.

“I was very happy with the results. I felt good, prepared. Even though I hadn’t competed since 2020, I was able to have a good workout in Viedma (his hometown), where the river is 6 degrees in winter. Also, it helped that the Russian swimmers, who are very strong, cannot compete because of the situation in their country, and that in Germany there was the flu and many couldn’t swim, it was strange, but I’m happy with the performance. good preparation for the World Cup”.

In this competition, which will be held from 12 to 15 January and is organized by the IISA –Ice-water swimming club (between 0 and 5 degrees), the other international federation, will run the 50 and 100 meters trials alone, in which they perform best.

“The goal is to do my best and get the best result for Argentina, let’s hope it can be a medal, it would be something beautiful. But already wearing our colors excites me a lot and motivates me,” he said. “Also, by the IISA, work is being done so that this sport can be incorporated into the Winter Olympic Games and we want to force it so that in the next edition at least it will be presented”.

And he said: “We prepare in the gym and in the heated pool, focusing on technique, speed and times, because I’m not going to run very long distances. In short distances, the times change little when you enter the cold water. Sometimes there is ice in the games or it is difficult to turn around, so something changes, but the more the distance the more they change, because there the ice and the cold affect the performance, I would like to improve those of the longer distances, because the longer it is, the more it is extreme. And that’s what I like about it.”

Out of your comfort zone

In icy waters, Lascano feels very comfortable. “I always manage to adapt very well. I don’t know how to explain it, it was never difficult for me and I never wanted to give up,” she said who, in the 2018/19 season, finished first in her category -20 to 29- on the IWSA World Cup circuit and, in 2019/20, led the Overall 500m IISA World Cup rankings.

However, in those two years that she hasn’t competed, her love of the water has led her to leave her comfort zone and seek out new challenges. Thus, he returned to his first great love, the open waters, and was encouraged to embark on two great adventures.

In March last year, completed the Mitre-Viedma Guarda journey of 114 kilometers through the waters of the Black River, which he did in just over 17 hours. She was the first woman to do it and the first person to do it without a wetsuit. And in July she made the go back to manhattan48 kilometers in 8 hours and 30 minutes, non-stop, across rivers East, Harlem Y hudson.

“The first months of the pandemic were strange, because you couldn’t go to nature. I continued to prepare physically with my brother Luca, who is my physical trainer, and when I could I would go back to the water, but without knowing when we would compete again. So, I imagined the worst case scenario: I wouldn’t be able to travel anywhere. And I said, why not do the Rio Negro challenge? That kept me busy,” she recalled.

“It was a difficult decision to make, because it was a complete change of training and also of mind, because preparing it would have involved many hours in the pool. And I like swimming, but what I like most is swimming in the open water, in the nature, in the open air. But I was able to put together a good team, which accompanied me, make a special preparation -because there were other difficulties: the kilometers and swimming in the early hours of the night- and complete the challenge , “He added.

-What cost you the most in the Miter-Viedma Guard? The physical or the mental?

The body. The mental, the truth, no. I had talked to a Chilean friend who is also a winter and long distance swimmer about the importance of knowing what to do if you get tired, if it hurts, if you can’t continue, something that can happen, because it takes many hours. Even though I never wanted to stop. Yes, there came a time when everything hurt, my knees, hips, fingers… very strange and very annoying pains, due to the fatigue of spending so many hours swimming. But I was well prepared, because even though I felt very tired after a few days, the following weekend I was already swimming again.

-How was the Manhattan experience?

Amazing. The difficulty was that there were three rivers, each with different situations. Sometimes there was a current in favor and other ways against; another that had practically no current, and the last leg, the Hudson, a tremendous swell, so much so that we had to get close to the coast. But it was very nice because we made contact with an Argentine who lives in New York and he introduced us to the whole Argentine community of that city, and they made us feel accompanied. I thought we’d be half alone and in the end, on every bridge I passed -because you cross so many bridges- I saw someone with the Argentine flag.

-What is the beauty of these challenges?

The freedom to swim in the river or in the sea, which is what I liked about the open sea. And the challenge of spending hours in the water. In winter swimming the distances are very short due to the cold. In the open sea it takes hours and hours and deal with different aspects, because the conditions keep changing. Different things always happen, problems appear, and you have to dodge them and continue, in order to get there, which is the goal.

A 2023 between his two passions

Ailén appreciated these two challenges so much that he projects 2023 divided between appointments on the IISA and IWSA world circuits, in icy waters, and new adventures that will test his resistance.

“After finishing the ice water circuit, I wish I could swim in a lake in Argentina. Back to Barilochewhere there are many lakes, or Ushuaia, which also has ideal temperatures. One of the best memories I have is of beagle channel, where I swam for the first time in water with less than 5 degrees. I saw the seaweed under the water and didn’t feel the body. And one more, enter the Emerald Lagoon frozen and breaking the ice, it was really amazing,” he said.

You also want to prepare frozen millet, the most extreme test of the IISA. “It’s not a competition, it’s a challenge that involves running 1,609 meters in water below 5 degrees. I did it in 2020 in Germany (Editor’s note: he was the third Argentinian to achieve it), but I would like to do it in our country,” he said..

And finally, he aims to do other challenges in open water: “Ono in Bahía Blanca and then maybe also the one in Catalan channelin California”

Lascano would also like to attend the IWSA World Cup, taking place in Bled, Slovenia from January 23-29, but is complicated by the cost of travel to that event.

“I have a scholarship from the government of Río Negro and the support of all my family and lifelong friends, to whom I am very grateful. But we are so far behind economically, that it is still very complex. Traveling for the World Cup , I had to do a lottery,” he said. “That’s why I keep looking for support, because I would like to continue representing Argentina and get better results every time. I dream bigger and bigger.”