It's a long way from Armatree to the icy French Alps, but it was well worth the trip for local woman, Peta Bradley who recently won a bronze medal at the 2023 Ice Swimming World Championships.

"One question I’m asked a lot is how did a girl from Armatree end up enjoying swimming in cold water," Ms Bradley said. "I’d always loved swimming growing up, training and racing throughout school," Ms Bradley said.

Attending primary schools at Gulargambone and high school at Gilgandra, Ms Bradley first learned to swim at Gular and was also part of the local swimming club.

"When I moved to Armidale I joined a local swimming squad that swam for fitness but also competed in ocean swimming events."

"There was one guy, Peter Hancock, who always took open water swimming to the next level and would swim in Dumaresq Dam, about 15 kilometres out of Armidale, all times of the year. During Covid, the pools closed and our group of swimmers started swimming out at the dam with him, this continued on through winter."

As a sport, ice swimming is relatively new, the IISA (International Ice Swimming Association) was created in 2009 and the term “ice swimming” was first coined. 

It is not for the faint hearted - by definition, ice swimming is swimming in water temperature of five degrees unassisted, with only a silicone cap, pair of goggles and standard swimming costume.

IISA has established a comprehensive set of safety and swimming rules together with worldwide swim records.

Ms Bradley says the safety rules are extensive, including swimming with a belt apparatus so a swimmer in trouble can be "hooked" from the water.

"There was a core group of dedicated swimmers that you could find out at the dam three or four times a week in the middle of July in Armidale on a minus seven degree morning, or in the snow getting ready to go for a swim," Ms Bradley said.

"We then started to do some research on cold water swimming and discovered the epitome of ice swimming; the ice mile. The ice mile is as simple as it sounds; one mile, water in water under five degrees, a standard swim suit and goggles and you must be alive 45 minutes after the swim!"

Before attempting an ice mile, there were a number of preparations including a qualifying swim, completing a medical check, having an ECG and extensive training.

"In September 2022 a group of four of us from Armidale headed down to Thredbo - one of the only places in Australia where the water gets cold enough to complete an ice mile," Ms Bradley said.

"We all successfully completed an ice mile becoming one of only 26 Australians and 460 people worldwide to have done so."

"We had a lot of help and support to complete the swim successfully including the founder of Ice Swimming in Australia, Wyatt Song. Wyatt also allocates the positions for Australians to compete at the Ice Swimming World Championships held every two years."

Following her ice mile Peta was given the opportunity to represent her country in this sport.

Ms Bradley said one of the main challenges was coming out of the Australian summer to swim in the cold northern hemisphere.

Her main event was the 1000 metre swim, the longest event at the World Championships.

Preparation included sitting in ice baths three times a week for twenty minutes.

"I was thrilled with the outcomes and swam times beyond my expectations," she said. "Whilst I had done a fair amount of cold water swimming, racing in cold water was a new thing for me.

"There are slightly different rules for getting in the water and turning every lap – making sure I practiced and executed these in the race was important."

Ms Bradley ended with a fourth for her age group in the 1000m swim, creating a new Australian record.

In the 500m she received bronze in her age group and was 9th overall. In the 50m butterfly, she finished fourth in her age group and 19th overall.

"The race was livestreamed and in the morning in France my heats coincided with prime viewing back home. I was utterly overwhelmed by the number of people that tuned in to watch and support from all over the country," she said.

But she isn't resting on her laurels.

"I’m back in the water since getting back to Australia. Swimming is such an important part of my daily routine so I’ve been enjoying being back and swimming but not having to push myself everyday as I was in the lead up to heading away. I’m just enjoying my pool sets and mixing things up," Ms Bradley said.

"One of the best things about the championships was meeting amazing swimmers from all ages, all around the world.

"I’ve got a spark now to continue to grow the sport here in Australia. In terms of events I have a few things I’m thinking about.

"New Zealand have an annual ice swimming competition later this year and I also have an English Channel relay pencilled in the diary.

"I’ll be working on locking some events in and keeping the training going. In the meantime I’ve been swimming in the farm dams with the work dogs here at Armatree."