Aquaour
noun - Aquaour or freeswimming is an aquatic activity in natural of man-made open bodies of water that involves jumping from cliffs, piers, jetties or boats into open bodies of water, running or swinging into the water, diving underwater or under breaking waves, bodysurfing, railroading along ocean swells and moving along with currents with or without a wetsuit. It is performed freely and with abandon for pleasure, adventure or fitness at any time of the day or night and involves quadrupedal movement in the water.
Open water races, competitions, or swimming along set courses are not considered aquaour.
Synonyms
Origin
Coined by Steven Munatones in 2014, aquaour is a term that combines aquatics and Parkour where practitioners aim to get between two points in the most efficient way possible using only the human body and the surroundings for propulsion, with a focus on maintaining as much momentum as possible while still remaining safe.
The Highest Swim
Madswimmers doing high-altitude swimming at 5909m (19,386 feet) in a frozen lake on Mt Tres Cruces, a volcano in the Andes Mountains along the Argentina - Chile border in South America with the water temperature between 0.5 - 2ºC (32.9ºF - 35.6ºC). Jean Craven, Herman van der Westhuizen and Chris Marthinusen completed the 5-minute neoprened wild swim while Evan Feldman and Milton Brest swam in wetsuits and Robert Graaff and Juandre Human were unable to partake in the final swim due to medical restraints after a 6-hour hike up the volcano and a laborious creating of the small area to swim through the 20 cm thick ice covering.
