Salt Rock ice swimmer takes on extreme 2°C challenge in Lesotho

When many of us view snow in the Berg with chilly horror, Salt Rock ice swimmer Joanna Dempsey sees opportunity.

The multiple-time age-group ice swimming world champion recently took on the world’s highest-altitude ice swim at 3 200m above sea level in Lesotho.

Joanna competed in the 250m, 100m and 50m freestyle events in 2°C water on August 1 and 2 at the South African Ice Swimming Championships. She won gold in her age group for all three.

“While the cold was immediate, it was the altitude that was most demanding,” she said.

“Every breath becomes difficult, and staying calm under oxygen deprivation requires real mental control – it felt like breathing through a straw!”

Joanna regularly trains at the Salt Rock Tidal Pool and with the Leopard Seals team during ocean swims at Thompson’s Bay. She also uses ice baths at Kico Life in Ballito to prepare her body for extreme competition conditions.”

Each morning began with clearing ice before racing could start. Watching the sunrise over the mountains while preparing to enter freezing water was both beautiful and humbling,” she said.

“What stood out most was not just the racing, but the people. Swimmers from all backgrounds supported one another through fear, doubt and discomfort.”

Fellow Leopard Seals member Marcelle Stiemans of Durban North completed an ice mile in a world-record time for her age group.

Joanna and fellow Leopard Seals swimmers now turn their attention to warmer waters as they prepare to attempt the first approved crossing of the 12km Magaruque Channel in Mozambique.

She will then return to the cold ahead of the Great Britain International Ice Swimming Championships in Wales in December, followed by the Italian Ice Water Swimming Championships and World Ice Swimming Championships in Oradea, Romania, in January.

“I am so grateful to represent our North Coast community internationally, and equally grateful to return to our coastline, where every swim – whether in the tidal pool or the ocean – is a chance to learn, grow and appreciate the environment we are fortunate to have.”