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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Lifestyle
Daisy Dumas

‘It has an addictive element’: the Australians chasing the high of long-distance ice swimming

A swimmer with an orange buoy attached to them in the ocean with snowy landmass visible
Wyatt Song swimming in the Antarctic in 2018. In 2014, the former Bondi lifesaver became the first Australian to complete an ice mile. Photograph: Wyatt Song

Sydney’s ocean temperature rarely drops below 15C, but the region is home to a growing number of ice swimmers who bask in the glow of a long swim in 5C water.

“People don’t think that we have the base for ice swimming, but we actually do have these locations we can do it in,” says Wyatt Song, who has spent much of the winter mentoring ice mile hopefuls at Wentworth Falls Lake in the New South Wales Blue Mountains, 95km from the city.

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