The Southern Lakes Swimming Club members have just been selected for the world ice swimming champs in Molveno, Italy, in January.
Rogers, 34, will be in the 17-person New Zealand team while Veenstra, 44, who’s not a Kiwi citizen, will represent the Netherlands where she hails from.
In ice swimming, you’re not allowed a wetsuit and the water has to be at or below 5°C.
Rogers last month swam in the NZ Ice Swimming Pool Championships, in Alexandra, after also competing in last year’s, in St Bathans, while these latest champs were Veenstra’s first.
Both are used to swimming without wetsuits in Lake Whakatipu, where it’s down to about 8°C in winter.
Rogers, however, says "there’s quite a big difference between 8° and 5°, I feel like under 10 degrees you feel every single degree of difference".
To bridge the difference, she’ll sometime fill her wheelie bin with cold water, then sit in it — "because I live in Fernhill, the top of it froze one morning and I actually had to axe the ice off the top before getting in".
As the lake gets warmer in summer, Veenstra thinks she’ll get a cold water bath at home.
Rogers says ice swimming’s definitely slower than normal pool swimming, and you’re also best to keep a consistent speed.
"If your pace changes too much, it’s actually a sign something’s going wrong, and they might pull you out."
The most hazardous time, she explains, is getting out, where you suffer ‘after-drop’.
"All the cold blood that’s in your fingers and arms suddenly swaps around with the warm blood in your core, so then your core temperature actually drops."
Veenstra says the solution’s to get your wet togs off immediately, then put on layers of warm clothing.
The pair say their trip will cost about $8000 each, which includes a week-and-a-half camp beforehand in a shallow lake in England’s Northamptonshire.
They’ll each compete in five events over five days with their longest being the 1km freestyle — Rogers will be in the 35-39 age group and Veenstra in the 45-49 one.
Being selected, Rogers says, "has definitely given me that push to train really seriously, especially when you’re representing your country".
