Maria “Icebreaker” Bodaj reveals how she keeps cool while breaking icy records
Have you ever been in the shower in the morning and had the water suddenly run cold? For Maria Bodaj (Poland), the icy cold water is where she feels most at home.
After spending 1 hour and 38 seconds submerged in ice water, she became the Guinness World Records title holder for longest duration submerged in ice water (female).
With multiple records in extreme cold categories, how did Maria get into this cool hobby in the first place?
She told us: “I’ve been practising conscious exposure to the cold for several years now, and it has become an important part of my life. In a way, the cold helped me find myself, and has taught me to slow down, be present, listen to my body and, most importantly, stay calm when things become uncomfortable.
“What started as a challenge gradually became a way of getting to know myself better and discovering a strength I didn’t always know I had.”
In 2021, Maria was eager to take a dip into cold water to see what it could teach her. Since then, she has trained herself to understand that while she can’t control the temperature of the water, she can control her response to it.
Maria’s first world record came on 28 June 2025, when she achieved the title for longest duration full body contact with ice (female) with a time of 3 hours, 33 minutes and 33 seconds. After this title, Maria said: “My appetite for new challenges started to grow, and I wanted to see what else was possible. I decided to try another form of cold exposure - full immersion in ice water - and see how my body and mind would respond.”
On 19 September 2025, Maria set a brand new record for longest duration submerged in ice water (female). As there had been no female record in this category before, Maria became the inaugural record holder. She added: “Since there was no female record in this category at the time, it gave me the opportunity to create something new. It felt like a natural next step in my journey with cold.”
She had planned to stay in the water for exactly one hour and told us: “The interesting part is that I had no idea how much time had passed while I was underwater. I was completely focused on my breathing, meditation and staying calm. I just wanted to do the task I had come there to do.
“When I finally came out and learned that my official time was 1 hour and 38 seconds, I was very happy. I had achieved exactly what I had planned.”
Read about more people pushing their limits in our Human Body section.
So, how does Maria manage to stay calm in such extreme cold?
For Maria, a big part of it is having faith in herself and understanding how her body reacts to the cold temperatures.
She explained: “This was especially important during the underwater record. When you are fully submerged in ice water, there is very little you can control. For me, the key was to redirect my attention to something repetitive and predictable. In this case, it was my breathing and the bubbles of air coming from my breathing apparatus.”
With a focus on the rhythm of her breath and air bubbles, Maria is able to stay present and calm.
Maria also recalled the words of her mentor Valerian Romanovski: “Only calm allows you to fully understand cold.”
Although training the body to adapt to the cold is an important factor of cold water endurance, an even bigger part of it is to train the mind. Maria told us: “I work a lot with visualisation, projection and affirmations. I try to approach cold as a challenge rather than something to fear, and curiosity is much more useful to me than fear.
“I know what happens to my body when I enter cold water, how my breathing changes and what sensations to expect. That knowledge gives me confidence, but I also believe that the mind has a huge influence on what we think is possible.
“When the mind becomes more open, some of the boundaries we thought were fixed start to move. The body can tolerate a lot, but you have to be willing to stay calm and remain in the discomfort instead of immediately trying to escape it.”
Maria added another record to her list on 21 February, achieving the longest time spent in direct full-body contact with snow (female) with a time of 1 hour, 33 minutes and 33 seconds.
Maria and her mentor Valerian are also planning to attempt a six-person relay under the ice, but for Maria, record breaking isn’t the only reason that she puts herself in these chilly situations. She said: “At some point, the number becomes less important than what the experience can give you - and what you can pass on to other people.”
With a drive to break the ice - literally - Maria also wants to encourage others to explore their own boundaries. For women in particular, she says: “I want you to discover what conscious exposure to cold can give you. Not necessarily through records or big challenges, but through small, conscious experiences that will help you understand your own body and mind a little better.”
With the cold becoming such an important part of Maria’s life, she hopes her experiences can help others discover the same sense of calm, strength and self-awareness. She added: “If this can help someone else, that is much more meaningful to me than any record.”