Capetonian is SA's first woman ice swimmer

The air temperature was believed to be 0 to 5C. Veteran ice swimmer Ram Barkai, who is going to be in the television programme Superhumans was one of the swimmers. Other well-known swimmers were Ryan Stramrood, Andrew Chin, Toks Viviers and Kieron Palfram. Palfram and Barkai recently became the first swimmers in the world to swim around Cape Horn.

Cecilia Schutte has been training on and off for two-and-a-half years in cold water, but more intensely the last two months. She trains outdoors all year round, combining ocean and pool training as part of her programme.

"I feel very honoured to be the first woman to have done this. I did not realise how big this actually was until people congratulated me on the achievement. I am very proud of the other guys who have completed the swim and hope this will open the door to more women taking part in open-water swimming as a sport.

"The first half of the mile was the worst and you wonder if you are going to do it, but once you get around that, things go more smoothly and it is almost as if you become part of the cold; you accept it in a way. The recovery after is the most dangerous part, as your body thaws, so does the ice flow through the veins and cools the body further to dangerous levels. With a great medical team you get through that stage pretty well, as your recovery is monitored every minute. All is really mind over matter," she said.

About R15 000 was raised for a local school. Schutte said she is always looking for sponsorship to continue training and so can continue to be able to do swims like these to raise funds for social development and community projects.