Former Stafford pupil will represent GB in Russia
A Staffordshire woman will be representing Great Britain at the international ice swimming championships in Russia starting today – in a frozen lake.
Wearing a standard swimming costume, cap and goggles, the former Stafford Apex SC member Caroline Saxon has been picked to compete for Team GB at the World Ice Swimming Championships in Murmansk. Caroline, 27, whose family lives near Eccleshall, has twice swum an ice mile in temperatures below five degrees Celsius, but with the water in Murmansk predicted to fall to freezing point, the 1000m race will be her biggest challenge yet.
“I’m really, really scared and I’m worried about how I’ll get into the zone when I get there,” she said. “They’ve chain-sawed a swimming pool out of the ice, because the lake is frozen. It’s a mega-challenge for me, but it’s the next level and I wanted to take that step. I don’t know yet how my body will react when I get into the water.”
Caroline is among 14 GB athletes who will compete at the championships, which are organised by the International Ice Swimming Association (IISA) for its 32 member countries.
Although her main focus will be on the 1km, she will also contest the 200m to help her acclimatise to the icy conditions. She said: “The 1,000m is the main event but I want to compete the day before to make sure I’m ready. This will be by far the coldest conditions I’ve faced and I’ve set myself three targets.
“My bronze target is just to finish, the silver is to complete it in under 18 minutes, and the gold is to finish in under 15 minutes.”
While at Stafford Grammar, Caroline captured several independent schools’ national freestyle titles and then turned her attention to open water swimming. At the age of 16 she became the British senior open water grand prix champion.
She added: “I got as far as I wanted to with open water swimming and decided to move to the next stage. I swim outdoors every week throughout the year and your body gets used to dealing with cold water. You learn how to get into the water the right way and teach yourself not to panic.”
Caroline was selected for the squad after she won the 1K, 500m, 250m and 50m women’s races at the British Ice Swimming Championships in January.
