A new Saturday morning routine, getting up early and heading to Hatfield to brace the cold. At the start of each session we attended briefings warning us of the dangers, mainly being Hypothermia; it was at this point we really started to question our decision.

Week by week, degree by degree, the temperature of the water dropped until suddenly it was at 5 degrees celsius . Entry to the water became slower and slower as we didn’t like cold feet, listening to the encouraging words of Leon from Swim-your-Swim, and the groans of Stuart winging about who’s silly idea it all was (it was his), this only lasted a couple of weeks until Stuart had knee surgery which meant he no longer had to suffer the cold and we no longer had to listen to him screaming.

After Christmas the water temperature dropped to 4 degrees, this doesn’t sound like a large drop from 5 but a 20% decrease in temperature could really be felt. It was at this point Erin and I decided that the only way we were ever going to brace this temperature was if we faced out fear and ran straight into the water with no pause and just swam without hesitation- we had come too far to quit less than two months away from the event. It was at this point we all changed our mind-set and decided the faster we got in and swam, the sooner the cold was over with. All three of us swam with our heads out for the first 5 meters but then it was brain freeze time, dragging the weights of our arms over the water.

As the championships grew closer we began to realise the so called “British” Championships did not have people only from Britain; there were entries from Russia, China, South Africa, and Ireland- here the nerves really started to set in. It looked like Erin and myself (Jess), were the youngest competitors competing in an open age group until we noticed entries from an 8 year old boy from Russia.

Race day soon came round. Greg was entered in the 50m Breaststroke, 100m Individual Medley and 4x50m Freestyle relay; Erin in 50m Freestyle and the 4x50m Freestyle relay and me in the 50m Fly and 4x50m Freestyle relay. This meant we all had to brace the icy water once, get warm and recover and get back into the cold, the thought of this was enough to make us shiver.

First up was Erin competing in the 50m Freestyle, with all Sharks supporters standing on the lake side cheering she won her heat by a mile and came a very close second overall out of all the female competitors only beaten by a former National Champion. Soon after was Greg in the 50m breaststroke, he didn’t only come first in his heat, but overall and received the gold medal to be named Male Champion of ICE 50m Breaststroke. Next it was my turn to swim the 50m Fly, next to the Yorkshire favourite to win on one side and a 6 foot plus Russian male on the other side, I also won my heat and overall; obtaining the gold medal and hopefully NEW UK or World Record for the Women’s ICE 50m Fly. The final individual race was Greg’s 100m Individual medley, only Greg was brave (mad) enough to face the water for longer than 50m he again did Sharks proud and won his heat and received the silver overall.

Then came the relays, Erin and I were in the same team with Greg in a separate one. Getting in the water a second (or third) time was a great struggle, thankfully it was only for about 30 seconds. We had to adjust to our usual ways and ensure we didn’t tumble turn or go more than 5m underwater as this would result in a disqualification. Both our relay teams were successful, Greg’s team came second overall so Greg came home with three medals from a very successful day. Erin and my team just missed out on a medal place as we came fourth.

As the day came to a close we were all very proud of ourselves and what we had achieved as the months of early mornings to brace the cold had paid off. We are still going strong in the cold water weeks after, waiting for it to get warmer closer to summer.

By Jess Hather (Girls Captain)