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Chicagoan Qing Li wins gold medal at Ice Swimming World Championships
Competitive ice swimming has only been in existence for ten years. To compete, swimmers can only wear a standard swim suit, goggles and a swim cap as they dive into water that’s less than forty degrees Fahrenheit. Natalie Bomke reports.
CHICAGO - She makes the polar plunge look like child’s play. Thirty-three-year old Chicagoan Qing Li is celebrating a gold medal win at the fourth annual Ice Swimming World Championships in France.
"A saying we have is the water is cold, but the hearts are warm," said Li of her competitors in the new sport.
Competitive ice swimming has only been in existence for ten years. To compete, swimmers can only wear a standard swimsuit, goggles and a swim cap as they dive into water that’s less than forty degrees Fahrenheit.
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"Your hands just automatically get numb, and it feels like there's pins and needles. Part of it is convincing yourself you're not going to die," Li laughed.
She recently set the record for the shortest time between completing an Iron Man competition and an Ice Mile, which she swam in Lake Michigan at Chicago’s Oak Street Beach.
Li and others in the ice swimming community are hoping it soon becomes an Olympic Sport. She believes Chicago is the perfect training ground.
"Obviously Chicago has really long winters.. I think we could be enjoying it [the lake] all year round."
In addition to her most recent gold medal, Li has captured the triple crown of open water swimming, successfully traversing the English Channel, "20 Bridges" around Manhattan Island and the Catalina Channel in southern California. Fewer than three hundred swimmers worldwide have the distinction.