Rules and the terms of payment

The swimming competition follows the competition rules of the Swedish Swimming Federation. From this page, you can find the most important parts of those rules.

Our event is an open-water swimming competition. Swimming takes place downstream in the free-flowing Torne River. 

If you don´t have a lot of experience in the open water swimming, we recommend not participating in longer competition distances.

If you have any doubts concerning your fitness, we recommend considering your participation in the competition for safety reasons.

Age limit

The minimum age is 12 years. Parents or guardians take responsibility for the participation of juvenile swimmers.

Equipment

We strongly recommend all of the swimmers use a wetsuit.

If the water temperature is below 16 degrees, the use of a wetsuit is mandatory. If the weather conditions are poor, the competition official can also order the use of wetsuits to be mandatory even if the water temperature is above 16 degrees. Safety buoy use is allowed and even recommended. 

The swimsuit must not cover the neck and must not go over the shoulders or below the ankles.

The wetsuit must completely cover the torso, back, shoulders, and knees and must not go over the neck, wrists, and ankles.

All swimsuits and wetsuits must also otherwise comply with the criteria described by FINA.

The use of swimming gloves and –socks or any other assistance equipment is prohibited.

Use of a safety buoy is mandatory for a distance of 3000 meters

The use of a safety buoy is mandatory for the 3000-meter swim. We recommend the use of a safety buoy also for swimming 2000 meters. The organizer does not provide a safety buoy.

Insurance

Make sure that you have valid insurance, which compensates for the possible injuries that might happen in the competition. Remember also travel insurance. Competitors are not insured by the organizer.

Timing

Each swimmer gets a swimming hat with a number on it and a timing bracelet with the same number attached to the wrist.

Start

The start of the race takes place as a joint start from the water at the sender's signal.

Route

The swimming route is marked with buoys. These buoys are located on the left side of the swimmers. Swimmers of the 3000 meters swim must stay close to the buoys for the whole competition.

Behavior

Competitors must obey the instructions organizer has given to them before and during the competition. If the competitor doesn't obey the given instructions, his/her swim can be suspended. Competitors must also swim without disturbing the other competitors.

Problem situations

If you face any problems during the swim, try to reach a floating position and draw the security boat's attention by yelling and waving your arm. When the security boat arrives, tell them about the problem and listen carefully to the instructions given to you. If you need to quit the competition, you will be taken to the security boat and get a ride to the finish line. In case of emergencies, the boat will take you straight to the medical personnel.

Note the swimming-induced pulmonary edema

Swimming-induced pulmonary edema (SIPE), also known as immersion pulmonary edema, occurs when fluids from the blood leak abnormally from the small vessels of the lung into the airspaces.

SIPE usually occurs during exertion in conditions of water immersion, such as swimming and diving. With the recent surge in the popularity of swimming in open water events, there has been an increasing incidence of SIPE.

SIPE symptoms:

• Shortness of breath out of proportion to the effort being expended.
• Cough (again, out of proportion), usually distressing and productive or not of a little pink, frothy, or blood-tinged sputum.
• Crackles, rattling, or "junky" feelings deep in the chest associated with breathing effort – usually progressively worsening with increasing shortness of breath and maybe causing a panic attack.

If you notice these symptoms while swimming you should immediately stop and ask for help.

If swim supervisors suspect that your health is at risk, they may interrupt your swimming. Always follow the instructions of the supervisors!

Possible changes

The start of the competition can be delayed or even canceled if the weather conditions are poor. The competition official will make the decision about the changes or demands.

We hold the right to supplement or change these rules. In case of possible changes, we inform the competitors via our newsletter.

Prices

• 2k 1300 SEK (~115 €)
• 3k 2500 SEK (~223 €)

The following is included with the registration fee

• The swimming-competition
• Swim the Arctic Circle T-shirt
• Diploma, which you can print out from the result page
• Access to sauna and bath barrel after swimming
• Warm soup in the finishing area
• Bus transportation from Sweden to the 3000-meter distance starting point, which is on the Finnish shore, and carriage of your belongings from the start place to the finish line
• The three best swimmers in each distance will be rewarded with a trophy  

Participating

You can buy the ticket to register for the swimming competition from our website. Your participation is verified when the ticket is paid.

150 tickets are reserved for each swimming distance.

We don't have a waiting list. Canceled tickets open the registration system automatically.

Payment

You can pay the registration fee with a credit card or via a PayPal account when you are making the order. You don’t have to have a PayPal account to make the payment via credit card.

Cancellations

Please contact us by email (info@swimac.eu) if you want to cancel your participation.

When you cancel your registration, the ticket will be released for re-registration.

Returning the registration fee

According to the Swedish Consumer Protection Act, registration for a sporting event is binding, and there is no right to withdraw. However, we follow more lenient cancellation conditions.

The amount is paid to the person who made the payment and refunded via payment card or PayPal account. We are not responsible for any additional charges.

Please note that it may take 1-3 weeks to receive a refund.

The amount of refund will follow the schedule above:

Cancellation 1st of June at the latest

We will charge a 200 SEK office fee per ticket for cancellation.

Cancellation 1st of July at the latest

We refund 50% of the registration fee.

Cancellations after the 1st of July

We refund only if you have a medical certificate concerning your cancellation. We will charge a 200 SEK office fee per ticket for cancellation.

Transfer participation to another person

Participation can also be transferred to another person. The participant's information can be updated directly in the registration system from the link in the registration message. However, please note that if registration is canceled completely, any refund will only be made to the original payer.

Overbooking

If the reservation system makes an overbooking, we hold the right to cancel the registration and make a full refund.

Cancellation of the competition

If the competition starts will be canceled because of the weather or force majeure reasons, we won't make any refunds to competitors. The decision to cancel the competition is made by the competition leader who is not a member of the organizing organizations.

Publishing the participant information

By participating in this swimming competition, participants give permission to the organizer to publish the participant's name, age, gender, sports club, nationality, or country in start- and result lists located on swimac.eu and my.raceresult.com websites.

Agreeing to terms and conditions

You approve of these rules and terms by enrolling in the competition.

You commit to participating in the event at your own risk and you assure that you have personal insurance that covers all the possible damages to yourself and others. The organizers (IF Polcirkel, Juoksengi byaförening, Napapiirin kyläyhdistys ry, and Swedish Swimming Association) are not liable for any damages.

We recommend wetsuits for all contestants!
A safety buoy is mandatory in the 3000m race.

During the competition days, the water temperatures are usually between +16 and +19 degrees Celsius.

Due to the war waged by the Russian state in Ukraine, we do not allow Russian representatives to participate in the event.