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TIM HOWELL
WINGSUIT BASE JUMPER
JOHANNA NORDBLAD
ICE WATER FREEDIVER
DR EMMA NICHOLSON
VOLCANOLOGIST
UNBOXING THE SCIENCE OF RISK
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JOHANNA NORDBLAD

ICE WATER FREEDIVER

Johanna is performing deep breathing exercises, she is sitting on the edge of a foreboding triangular hole, freshly cut into the surface of a remote frozen lake in Southern Finland, she is about to dive. Join us on a journey of discovery about the science of risk. Inigo is partnering with Johanna Nordblad, a record-holding professional Ice water freediver, to understand how she is able to de-risk the seemingly foolhardy,

transforming it into something exceptionally calculated and executed. We will learn about the science that keeps her safe. From the technical aspects of understanding the environment she operates in, to the complex physiological reactions she has to stimulate and control to achieve what she does. Her perspective on risk is breathtakingly similar to ours.

Let’s jump in.

INIGO PRESENTS

THE ICE QUEEN

Filmed on location in Southern Finland, Inigo presents an intimate and captivating short film introducing world record-holding ice water freediver, Johanna Nordblad. Discover the science that enables her to manage the huge risks involved in diving for 103 meters, under a frozen lake, on a single breath.

WATCH NOW
WATCH NOW

BEHIND THE SCENES

Join us for a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the making of 'The Ice Queen'. A first-hand account of a truly remarkable journey into the forbidding and desolate environment of the Finnish lakes. Learn how the Inigo Risk Ambassador campaign, fuelled by our relentless curiosity, is surfacing multiple new perspectives around the science of risk.

Johanna Nordblad ice diving
Ice and water
Johanna Nordblad ice diving
Snowy forest
Ice diving team
Ice diving team
Johanna Nordblad ice diving
Johanna Nordblad ice diving

JOHANNA'S STORY

THE ACCIDENT

Johanna never set out to become what she is today. Her affinity for the ice started following a downhill mountain biking incident in 2010. The accident caused significant damage to her leg, necessitating an open wound for several days in the hospital to save her leg. Although her bones eventually mended, the nerve endings did not. Even years later, Johanna would be tormented by the extreme agony. Feeling as though she was losing her sanity, she sought relief in cold-water therapy upon a doctor's recommendation. Initially, the experience was unbearable. Yet, after just a few minutes, she found relief. The pain had gone.

Lake Sonnanen, Heinola, Finland

UNDER THE ICE

She never dives alone. A team of safety divers are always present in the water should something go wrong. The water temperature is so cold, around 2°C, that the divers use a rebreathing system as part of their oxygen tanks. This equipment ensures the oxygen they breathe is at body temperature. Breathing oxygen chilled by the water would be fatal. Her sister, Elina is a critical part of her safety team. There is an intuitive bond of trust between them that cannot be rationally explained.

103M

UNDER THE ICE

50M

Set the women's ice diving World Record, swimming 50m under the ice without fins or a wetsuit on a single breath.

2021

103M

Went on to beat the men’s World Record by diving 103m.

If my heart beats too slow I could have cardiac arrest. If it beats too fast, I may blackout.”

If my heart beats too slow I could have cardiac arrest. If it beats too fast, I may blackout.”

Achieving a heart
rate of just 10 BPM

The mammalian dive reflex is a physiological reaction we all possess. When Johanna’s face comes into contact with cold water or when she submerges herself in water, several physiological changes occur in response to the dive reflex. These changes aim to reduce her oxygen consumption and redirect blood flow to essential organs, such as the heart and brain. These physiological events occur sequentially.

THE VAGUS NERVE

A nerve no thicker than a single human hair is the critical communication channel between Johanna’s brain and vital organs. Her ability to stimulate this nerve allows her to control her heart rate within very strict parameters.

BRADYCARDIA

Her heart rate slows down significantly, sometimes by as much as 50 percent or more. This reduction in heart rate helps her conserve oxygen and allows her body to maintain a steady supply of blood to vital organs.

BLOOD SHIFT

As a response to the increased pressure underwater, blood is shifted from her extremities towards her chest cavity and vital organs. This redistribution of blood helps to maintain the blood pressure and oxygen supply to her essential organs.

SPLENIC CONTRACTION

Her spleen, an organ located in the upper left side of the abdomen, contracts in response to the dive reflex. This contraction releases additional red blood cells into her circulation, further optimising oxygen-carrying capacity.

PERIPHERAL
VASOCONSTRICTION

Blood vessels in her extremities, such as her arms and legs, constrict or narrow. This constriction reduces blood flow to these areas, redirecting it to the core of her body where her vital organs are located.

THE VAGUS NERVE

A nerve no thicker than a single human hair is the critical communication channel between Johanna’s brain and vital organs. Her ability to stimulate this nerve allows her to control her heart rate within very strict parameters.

BRADYCARDIA

Her heart rate slows down significantly, sometimes by as much as 50 percent or more. This reduction in heart rate helps her conserve oxygen and allows her body to maintain a steady supply of blood to vital organs.

BLOOD SHIFT

As a response to the increased pressure underwater, blood is shifted from her extremities towards her chest cavity and vital organs. This redistribution of blood helps to maintain the blood pressure and oxygen supply to her essential organs.

SPLENIC CONTRACTION

Her spleen, an organ located in the upper left side of the abdomen, contracts in response to the dive reflex. This contraction releases additional red blood cells into her circulation, further optimising oxygen-carrying capacity.

PERIPHERAL VASOCONSTRICTION

Blood vessels in her extremities, such as her arms and legs, constrict or narrow. This constriction reduces blood flow to these areas, redirecting it to the core of her body where her vital organs are located.

Johanna wearing a 9mm wetsuit, weighted belt and monofin.

The equipment

ICE DAGGERS

If the ice suddenly breaks under foot as she is traversing a frozen lake, Johanna carries ice daggers tethered to her wrists as a safety precaution. They might be the only chance she has of preventing herself going under.

GUIDE ROPE

Johanna uses a brightly coloured guide rope under the ice. The danger of disorientation is high. Losing her way back to the ice hole could end in catastrophe.

Chainsaws and ice saws are used to create entry points into the lake.

Ice thickness on Lake Sonnanen reaches up to 1 Meter in the winter months.

TAKING RISKS YOU CAN LEARN SO MUCH ABOUT YOURSELF.”

TIM
HOWELL

WINGSUIT BASE JUMPER

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DR EMMA
NICHOLSON

VOLCANOLOGIST

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