Our swim lead completes extreme swimming challenge
Our very own Swim Coordinator Joanne Jones has completed one of the world’s most extreme water swimming challenges, the Ice Mile, a one-mile open water swim in temperatures below 5 degrees.
The endurance swim, which took place in Doncaster, is known as one of the most dangerous due to the risks of cold shock and hypothermia. After months of dedication and preparation, Joanne completed the 1609.3m swim in 29.19 minutes.
Joanne is a strong swimmer who regularly takes part in challenges. To qualify for the Ice Mile, she competed at the ‘Really Cold Swimming’ Championships, where she placed third overall in the 1,000m event in water temperatures below 2 degrees.
Even though this challenge was in sub-zero temperatures, Joanne still credits using the warm swimming pool at our centre as a key part of her training programme. She said:
“In the cold water you lose feeling in your hands and feet, so your ‘feel’ for the water disappears. I wanted as good a form as possible, so I spent a lot of time in the pool at Ferry practicing swim sets that trained my technique. Starting from best practice meant that I would swim well for as long as possible, even as the cold affected my strength and speed.
“I swam at Ferry, one to two times a week, using structured swim sets to maintain technique, stamina and pacing. I combined this with weekly cold-water swims as lake temperatures dropped, fitting sessions around work and family commitments.
“During the Ice Mile, I felt extremely safe with the safety team and boat next to me guiding me around the loop. Recovering took me the best part of 90 minutes with lots of layers, hot water bottles, and hot drinks, plus sugary snacks to help my body recover as I shivered. It was an amazing experience, and I join a select group of people, less than 700 in the world, who have done this.”