Bringing the trend of cold water swimming to Gloucestershire, the 2024 GB Ice Swimming Championships are being hosted at Cheltenham's Sandford Parks Lido in January 2024.
Taking place on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 January 2024, the event sees ice swimmers from across the UK come together, in just a pair of Speedos or a swimming costume, to race a distance of up to one kilometre in water with a temperature of just five degrees Celsius or under.
Spectators are welcome to attend the event for free and cheer on the athletes as they take on the extreme temperatures, in a bid to be selected to represent Team GB at the World Championships in Italy in 2024.
The event poses the ultimate test for even the most confident swimmers and requires a strong connection between body and mind. Elite ice swimmers have to build up their tolerance over a number of years in order to ensure safety and avoid injury in the frosty waters.
Commencing at 9.30am, Saturday's programme includes a 1,000-metre race, as well as 50-metre freestyle, 50-metre backstroke and 100-metre breastroke events.
The heat rises — outside of the water — on the Sunday, as swimmers take part in 100, 250 and 500-metre freestyle races, as well as a 50-metre butterfly race, with some races only allowing for a maximum seven minutes in the pool.
This is the eighth edition of the event and following this round of competition, successful GB athletes will head to Romania for the European Championships in February 2024, where competitors will vie for a place in the World Championships later in the year.
The 2023 event saw racers break 25 Guiness World Records, at the end of a five-day showdown in the Samoëns in France.
