Kelowna swimmer braves the ‘Ice Mile’ in lake
Posted December 25, 2012 8:29 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
KELOWNA (NEWS1130) – A Kelowna athlete has braved the frigid waters of a southern Interior lake to join an exclusive club of global ice swimmers.
Paul Duffield may well be the first Canadian to swim 1.6 kilometres — dubbed the “Ice Mile” — in water colder than 5 C sporting only a swimsuit and cap.
The 43-year-old joined on Sunday a list of 25 people who have completed that distance worldwide.
The swimmer decided to take the plunge after reading about the International Ice Swimming Association last January, and he kept the goal in mind while training for a swim across the English Channel that’s coming next summer.
Duffield emerged with bright red skin from Gellatly Bay in Okanagan Lake to the cheers of two dozen supporters, and did not need assistance from waiting paramedics.
He says it was as much a mental challenge as a physical feat.
