Para athlete Francois Lambrechts is an ice swimmer, which means swimming in temperatures of 5°C or less.
The concept began relatively recently in 2009.
"Since then it has basically just grown over time."
Swimmers can only wear a silicone cap, goggles and standard swimming costume, not a neoprene wetsuit.
His interest in ice swimming began five years ago when he lived in Queenstown and joined the Southern Lakes Swimming Club.
At that point he swam with a wetsuit and decided to keep on swimming through the winter months.
"The next year, I decided to ditch the wetsuit and start swimming in skins."
He realised he could withstand cold temperatures, and when he encountered ice swimming he decided it was something he wanted to try.
Swimmers were supported to ensure they stayed safe.
"Over time, you can just feel everything is slowing down, and at some point, you know, you have to get out."
When he trains, he adheres to rules such as always swimming with others, having support people on the shore to help him warm up and swimming with a tow float — a bright swim buoy that keeps athletes visible in the water.
"There is what you call the ‘afterdrop’, so when you actually get out of the water, you still feel fine, your core is still warm, but your skin is very cold."
As the body attempts to regulate temperature, it sends warm blood to the skin, which causes cooler blood to circulate back to the core.
This process can lead to a drop in core temperature, potentially resulting in hypothermia.
"So that is called the afterdrop where you actually become hypothermic."
The sport has a strong focus of ensuring swimmers stay safe at these low temperatures during events.
"There’s a lot of medical staff to make sure you warm up safely."
Lambrechts has a para S10 classification when he swims due to a hereditary neurological disease called Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A (CMT1A).
"When I grew as a teenager, basically my legs and my arms didn’t grow exactly correctly.
"So I’ve got range issues ... I don’t have a very good balance, I don’t have a lot of strength.
"I do appear normal, as you can see, but I’m definitely not."
Those challenges have not held him back from reaching his goals.
Lambrechts holds the para world records for the 1000m, 500m, and 250m freestyle ice swimming events and he has been selected to represent New Zealand at the International Ice Swimming Association’s sixth World Championship, taking place in Molveno, Italy, in January.
He hoped to defend his records at the event.
He has set up a Givealittle page to help raise the $9500 he needs to attend the event.
"There is going to be many countries represented. It is a big event."
