4.8 degrees - cold but not the coldest

It’s a true saying that ‘we should be careful what we wish for’. Yesterday I was speculating about the temperature dropping below 5 degrees and being the qualifying temperature for the International Ice Swimming Association’s ‘Ice Mile’. Well today it fell to 4.8 degrees, making for a savage swim.

Despite the eye watering temperature it isn’t the coldest water I’ve swum in. On 28th January 2021 I swam in 4.5 degrees and on 29th January it was only 4.4 degrees which is my personal record. However, on both occasions I only swam 250m, which was the standard distance I swam two years ago and the minimum qualifying distance for a Polar Bear Challenge swim. Today I managed a full 500m in the 4.8 degrees.

The next level up for the Polar Bear is “Apprentice Jedi Polar Bear”. This involves pretty much the same as the arctic version, which I’m doing this winter with the added requirement of additional swims of specific distances in water below a certain temperature. To qualify as an Apprentice Jedi you are required to achieve a total of 10 points across a list of different distances and temperatures.

So this winter I have been tracking some of my swims and gauging how many points I might be able to secure. To date I have unofficially achieved the following:

1 point - 750m under 9 degrees (I’ve managed this twice)

1 point - 625m under 8 degrees (I’ve managed this once)

1 point 500m under 7 degrees (I’ve managed this a number of times)

1 point 750m under 7 degrees (I’ve managed this 3 times)

1 point 375m under 6 degrees (I’ve managed this twice, both times I swam 500m)

And now after today’s swim I can claim 2 full points for a 500m at under 5 degrees, which gives me a theoretical Jedi Polar Bear points total of 7 out of the 10 points needed. On Sunday I may bag another if the temperature stays below 5 degrees. I will then be left with the challenge of finding two more points from some of the longer distance swims. So this would be 625m at under 6 degrees, 750m at under 6 degrees or possibly 875m at under 8 degrees.