Qing Li always wanted to compete in the Olympics.
The 35-year-old grew up surrounded by swimming greats and even got to meet a few Olympic swimmers before she turned 10. From a young age, Li competed in swim club and continued the sport all the way through college. But it was not until Li was 32 when she would finally win a gold medal on a world stage in France.
Except, that gold medal was not for the Olympic swimming, but for ice swimming at the International Ice Swimming Association’s world championship.
Li, who lives in downtown Chicago, is one of nearly a hundred American athletes competing in the growing sport of ice swimming, where people traverse frigid waters of 41 degrees or lower with nothing but a swimsuit, goggles and a swimming cap. She will compete in one of those chilly competitions this weekend at Lake Memphremagog in Vermont.
Over 700 people from more than 40 countries compete in ice swimming, with competitors coming from Germany, Italy, China and even Mexico. In the U.S., there are ice swimmers from across the country — from states that experience colder climates such as Illinois, Indiana and Massachusetts to states known for warmer weather such as Arizona, Texas and California. The International Ice Swimming Association held its first official national U.S. competition last year and as interest in the sport continues to grow, the association is pushing for the sport to be included in the Olympics.
When training for competitions around this time of year — Chicago saw wind chills of about 20 below this week — Li practices in an indoor pool to work on her speed and endurance. However, she will occasionally hop into Lake Michigan to get acclimated to the water, sometimes bringing a hammer to hack through the ice with if the lake has frozen over. Last weekend, Li hopped into the lake around sunrise — on days where Chicago saw snow and temps drop into the single digits.
Li started doing open water swimming when she was 14. She swam her first open water 3K event in 2014 — and completely hated it.
“I went in, I swam it, I got out and said, ‘Never again. This was horrible. Like, I don’t know why people do this to themselves. This was the worst thing that anyone could do,’” Li said. “I swallowed a jellyfish. I was getting dehydrated from the salt water.”
But Li stuck with the open water swimming and eventually made the transition to ice swimming in 2018, the same year she moved to Chicago. “When I moved to Chicago, because Lake Michigan is just cold all year round, I wanted to see how long I could last through the winter,” Li said.
Training for ice swimming is no small feat, even for those who do not swim competitively.
“There are a lot of people that want to get involved and do these things, you know, for the ‘gram more than understanding the sport and really getting into it,” Rena Demeo, vice chair of the IISA USA Board, said. “It can be dangerous. You’re swimming in water that’s 41 degrees or colder, not wearing a wetsuit. Depending on how fast you are, that’s going to be how long you stay in the water.”
Ice swimming participants are always at risk of hypothermia or afterdrop, the phenomenon where your body temperature continues to drop while rewarming after hypothermia. Before jumping headfirst into 40 degree water, beginning ice swimmers need to learn how to warm up correctly.
“Warming up can be as dangerous as being in the cold if you do it incorrectly,” Mary Ann Best, a competitive ice swimmer from Indiana, said. From there, ice swimmers are instructed to build up tolerance by starting off with warmer temperatures and progressing into colder waters.
“So if water temperature is dropping below 60, and then below 50, and then you’re thinking that, ‘My God, how many others survive at 47,” said Marcia Cleveland, a non-competitive ice swimmer from Wilmette. “And then all of a sudden, when it’s 42 you’re wishing it’s 47.”
How much time is spent in the water is just as important as the temperature of the water itself since swimming in the water often is key to getting acclimated.
“Your body has to be really, really used to it. And you do it little bits at a time,” Best said. “So I started out at like 10 minutes and then just kept increasing.”
It is also paramount for ice swimmers — both old and new — to warm up safely after completing a swim. Some competitions even have hot tubs and saunas for people to use after they finish swimming.
“The warming up after is super, super critical and if you don’t do it properly … you can end up with things like not being able to feel your fingertips,” said Li, speaking from experience. “I always tell people like when you start feeling really good, that’s the time to get out.”
Over the years, from Ironman competitions to formally competing at high levels, Li has played around with different ways to keep herself safe while also pushing herself out of her comfort zone. In some cases, she said she has found that “a little extra fat doesn’t hurt.”
In January, Li and Best were among hundreds of swimmers participating in the 6th Ice Swimming World Championships in Molveno, Italy. It was the largest team the U.S. has ever taken to the event, according to Demeo.
“It was in a pool outside surrounded by the Dolomites. It was crazy beautiful, but the water was super cold,” said Demeo, who was also in Italy. “It was like 32 degrees some days, not a lot of sun.:
At that event, Demeo said Li broke a world record. A mutual friend of theirs named Elaine came to the event dressed up as an eagle to show support for the U.S. team.
“And there’s a picture, like Qing has her USA cap on, Elaine’s dressed like an eagle, and Qing realizes she broke a world record,” Demeo said. “It’s the most beautiful picture ever.”
