The character arc of Wim Hof
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born on 20 April 1959 in Sittard in Limburg, one of nine children. Between then and now sit a sudden urge at seventeen to get into the freezing water of a canal, decades in the cold, world records for swimming under ice and for prolonged contact with it, a barefoot half marathon on ice and snow, the death of his first wife in 1995, four children raised afterwards, a university study begun in 2011 and broadcast on Dutch television, a method taught worldwide, and a scientific argument that is still running. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Drag along the line to move, pinch or use the buttons to look closer. Tap the line to pluck it, or any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Wim Hof?
One of nine children, and the only one who got in the canal.
He was born in Sittard in the south of the Netherlands, one of nine children, which is a childhood with very little room in it for being unusual. At seventeen he had what he describes as a sudden urge to jump into the freezing cold water of a canal in a local park. He did it, and something about it took. He has spent nearly fifty years in the cold since.
What he built out of it is a method: frequent cold exposure, breathing techniques and meditation, taught together. What he proved with his own body is a list of records. He held a world record for swimming under ice, and another for prolonged full body contact with ice, and he holds a record for a barefoot half marathon run on ice and snow.
In 1995 his first wife, whom he had met in a park in Amsterdam, died by suicide. He has said she had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. He was left with their children to raise. That is the part of the story he has spoken about most plainly and least comfortably for thirty years, and the cold, by his own account, is bound up in it.
The science came looking for him in the end. The first significant investigation began at Radboud University in 2011, and the results were broadcast on Dutch national television in April that year. A 2024 meta analysis of eight studies found the method may reduce inflammation, with mixed findings on exercise and breathing, and the authors cautioned that the quality of the studies was very low, the samples small and mostly male, and the results not generalisable.
It is also disputed. He has been criticised for saying publicly that people with rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and even cancer could benefit from the method, and his own lead researchers had previously warned him that such claims were not scientifically justified. Deaths have been reported among people practising it: four in newspaper reporting in 2016, with drowning confirmed in several cases, and a 2023 documentary linking thirteen. Cold water is dangerous, and that is part of his record too.
The moments
Wim Hof's timeline.
The 1960s
One of nine
Everyday. Nine children in one house, and no room to be unusual.
The 1970s
Get in, or walk on
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: get in the canal, taken, or walk on. He has spent the next five decades in cold water and set world records in it.
The urge at seventeen
Milestone, and it changed everything. One impulse in a park, followed, and it became the whole life.
The 1980s
The method takes shape
Milestone, and it changed his direction. Cold, breath and attention, put together into something teachable.
The 1990s
His wife dies
Setback, and it changed everything. She died in 1995, and he was left with the children.
Raising them alone
Everyday, and it changed everything. A widower with children, and the cold water every morning.
The 2000s
Under the ice
Milestone, and it changed everything. Two world records, both of them for staying in something that kills people.
Barefoot on the ice
Milestone, and it changed his direction. Thirteen miles, on ice, with nothing on his feet.
The 2010s
The first study
Milestone, and it changed everything. A university finally put him in a laboratory, and the country watched.
Deaths are reported
Setback, and it changed everything. Cold water is dangerous, and the record says so plainly.
His researchers warn him
Setback, and it changed his direction. The scientists studying him told him to stop saying it.
The 2020s
What the evidence says
Milestone, and it changed everything. Something is happening. Nobody can yet say how much.
He is still getting into water that would kill most people, at sixty seven. What he set moving is in a million cold showers every morning, taken by people with no intention of running a half marathon barefoot on ice, because a Dutch teenager followed one odd impulse into a canal and never came out.
Your turn
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His began with one strange impulse at seventeen that he did not talk himself out of. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.
Wim Hof: frequently asked questions
What people ask about his line.
What is Wim Hof's character arc?
What is the Wim Hof Method?
Does the Wim Hof Method work?
Has Wim Hof been criticised?
What records does Wim Hof hold?
What happened to Wim Hof's wife?
Where does this timeline of Wim Hof's life come from?
More character arcs
Lives that rhyme with his.
Sources
- Wim Hof, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
- Radboud University research from 2011 and the 2024 meta analysis of eight studies, as summarised there.
- Dutch press reporting of 2016 and a 2023 documentary on deaths among practitioners.
- Guinness World Records for swimming under ice and prolonged contact with ice.