It’s not a joke, on Sunday, the British explorer Lewis Pugh swam for nearly 19 minutes in the open water at the North Pole. Until recently, the North Pole was constantly covered in thick ice, so Pugh did the swim to raise awareness of the devastating effects of global warming.

The water was -1.8°C and Pugh’s body temperature dropped two degrees during his record breaking swim. He has swum all over the world to bring attention to climate change and has spent years training for the cold water by swimming in pools filled with ice and in Norway.

He uses intense concentration to heat up his body before a swim. He can raise his heart rate and pulse mentally, causing his body to warm up.

After the swim, he took a 45 minute hot shower to bring his body temperature back up. That sounds like what I do every morning when I get up!