Seagulls Swimming Club’s Wendy Bates braves the cold at the Ice Swimming World Championship
Seagulls Swimming Club member Wendy Bates took the plunge and braved the cold while representing Great Britain at the Ice Swimming World Championship in Molveno, Italy.
Walkford-based Bates, who swam with the Christchurch swimming club as a child before returning as a masters swimmer, competed in Freestyle 100m, 250m and 500m in an outdoor pool after the ice had been broken and removed.
Swimming in the 40-44 years age group, Bates took fourth (500m), seventh (250m) and eighth (100m) places at the championships, where 750 swimmers from 48 countries competed.
Bates’ journey into ice swimming began with swimming the length of the Windermere – a large lake in Cumbria’s Lake District National Park that is 11 miles long – in 2021, after which she decided her next challenge would be to swim the English Channel in memory of my dad.
“Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t good enough for my challenge in 2022 or 2023,” said Wendy Bates. “And so it wasn’t until August 2024 that I finally had my chance, but I’m pleased to say that I successfully swam to France in 12 hours and 10 minutes and raised money for Blood Cancer UK.
“As part of my channel training, I started to swim in colder water and for longer as the channel qualifier is a six-hour swim in less than 15.5 degrees water.
“The ice swimming journey started around 2022 when my swimming buddy and I decided to enter a winter swimming event in Germany. It was only 25m freestyle, but we enjoyed the buzz so much that we started entering other events.”
Bates entered the International Ice Swimming (IISA) Great Britain Ice Swimming Championships in 2023 and 2024, increasing the distances to 500m freestyle. Later in the year, she hopes to compete in the 1km event, the longest event in the sport.
Bates added: “Molveno was an incredibly beautiful place in the Dolomites, and the lake and scenery were stunning. The pool was located next to the lake, and I had to pinch myself because I was swimming for GB!
“I came fourth, seventh, and eighth in my events. Although I’m slightly disappointed that I didn’t get an age group medal, some incredible swimmers were there.”
Bates was not the only Great Britain team member from Dorset, with Elizabeth Mills from the Poole Swimming Club taking part and taking home silver and bronze medals in the 100m Butterfly and 50m Butterfly in the 45-49 years age group while finishing in fifth place in the 200m Individual Medley.
Unlike most swimming races, swimmers do not dive into the pool at the start and push off from the wall after one length instead of doing tumble turns.
The event in Italy is the sixth Ice Swimming World Championship, with the International Ice Swimming Association formed in 2009. The organisation aims to become a Winter Olympic sport, allowing many competitors to attend the Winter and Summer Olympic Games.
