Sisters Heidi, 16, and Sophie Winter, 18, of Alexandra, have joined 750 other ice swimmers from 48 countries in the alpine village of Molveno, in northern Italy, for the sixth edition of the International Ice Swimming Association World Championships, which began on Monday, local time.
The water must be at or below 5°C and competitors must swim unassisted, wearing just a silicon cap, pair of goggles and standard togs.
The pair are part of the 17-strong New Zealand team — dubbed the Frozen Ferns — who were selected following national champs in Alexandra last winter.
As the team’s youngest member, Heidi was given the honour of flag bearer at the opening ceremony.
She is now a world champion, after she won the women’s open 100m freestyle final — setting a junior world record once in her heat and again in the final.
She also won the junior women’s age group for 100m backstroke and 250m freestyle.
Heidi said the competition had been great fun so far and the New Zealand supporters — in Italy and at home —had been incredible.
"It is great to have our family here with us," she said.
"It is cool being around people from different countries and cultures."
"We love Molveno, the mountains are huge and gorgeous."
"The cold doesn't bother me any more and it's just fun to be racing at such a big event," she said.
Sophie placed second in the women’s open 50m breaststroke final and the woman’s open 50m butterfly, where she also came first in her age group.
"The support from the team has been amazing and has made our time so much more enjoyable," she said.
"We still have two days of racing so we are excited to see what we can do with those."
The team spent a week at an acclimatisation camp in England before the competition, where the weather was so cold, care was needed to avoid being cut on the frozen pond.
Other locals at the competition are Cameron Stanley, of Wānaka, Vicki Liddell, of Alexandra, Bethany Rogers, of Queenstown, and Emilia Finer and Francois Lambrechts, both of Dunedin.
