Wim Hof (born 20 April 1959), also known as The Iceman, is a Dutch extreme athlete noted for his ability to withstand freezing temperatures. He has set Guinness World Records for swimming under ice and prolonged full-body contact with ice, and previously held the record for a barefoot half marathon on ice and snow. He attributes these feats to his Wim Hof Method (WHM), a combination of frequent cold exposure, breathing techniques, yoga and meditation. Hof has been the subject of several medical assessments and a book by investigative journalist Scott Carney. He has also experienced serious drawbacks of his techniques, in 2008 he was urgently hospitalized because he sat on a public fountain in Amsterdam and ruptured his rectum when doing so.