February 28, 2025 • 7 mins
Ever heard of the Frozen Ferns?
Cameron Stanley joined Lesley to discuss the Frozen Ferns, a team of swimmers that compete in water with a temperature of no more than 5 degrees Celsius.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
If you want to be a frozen fern, this is
what you have to do. So to find out all
about it, let's go to someone who knows exactly what
being a frozen fern is. Cameron Stanley. He's just back
from the World champs Good morning, good morning, tell us
about being a frozen fern.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
So a frozen fern is the New Zealand ice swimming
team and we've recently been to the World Championships which
were held in Malto, Italy, which is up in the
Dollarmites in the northern end of it only.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
How did you get involved in ice swimming?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
I live in Wanaca, so I've dabbled with some cold
swimming in the parts in the lake in winter. But
I actually had a friend who saw it and was like, oh,
I might give this a go, but I'd be keen
to do it that you do. I sort of foolishly
said yes, yeah, sure enough. She decided she wanted to
do it and I was roped in right, So.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Tell us what the temperature is when you're in there.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
So it's actually swimming and it's a whole various things.
But the World Championship is held in a pool and
it's very different distances and events that you can swim
in the criteria for ice swimming if that the temperature
has to be under five degrees celsius, So it can't
be over that or it's not an official ice swimming event.
But it can go down as low as you can
(01:13):
get the pool without it freezing. So when we were
in Italy in Malveno, it did actually freeze the day
before the competition. They actually had to warm it up
a bit to stop it freezing. And I think we
were racing in around one to two degrees there, And
at the New Zealand Championships in July, which were held
in Alexandria, we were racing in about two degrees there.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
One would say you were well prepared, but how do
you prepare your body to plunge into temperatures of that
low degree.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
It's training, really, and in the same way that you
know if you do more running or do more swimming,
you get faster and better at over time. There's obviously
a limit to how much you can do that. It
is quite amazing how much the body does adapts to
the cold if you expose yourself regularly to it. So
I did most of my training in Lake Monica, which
is a little bit warm. Typically sits around eight to
(02:03):
nine degrees in winter. It doesn't get any ready any
colder than that. But I would go out in swim
per sort of, you know, twenty minutes, sometimes over a kilometer.
I also sort of spent some time in Auckland prior
to that, and actually drove up and on my drive
back and forth, I tried to swim and as many
bodies of water that were cold as I could. So
(02:24):
I swam in Lake pukuke Techapoul. I swam in the
waimakad Easy River and Canterbury and the Ashley River as
well in Cansbury and Lake Topaul and another river up
there as well, and then up in the sea in Auckland.
So I experienced a wide range of different bodies of
water to swimming, and they were also quite a wide
range of different temperatures, which is quite nice as well.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
It certainly prepared you well because when you look at
it means open one hundred meters eighth in the fifty
gold in your age group for both events. But that
was bronze and the means open one hundred, wasn't it.
And then there was a mixed relay fifty meter as well.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Yeah, no, I was fortunate to have some pretty pretty
good results over there. I was pretty happy, particularly with
one hundred backstroke on the first day. I ended up
getting sick after those ones and had to pull out
of a few events, but yeah, I was happy with
happy with those results.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
When you think about New Zealand and our population, we
became sixth out of forty seven teams over seven hundred swimmers.
As mentioned that all those countries taking place.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Yeah, there was an Olympian in the event that I
competed in, and he competed in a number of other
events as well. He actually was. He competed in Paris
and he came fifth I think in the turn of backstroke,
so I was pretty special to come up against him
stuff as well, and it was a great thing to
be a part of. It was a really good atmosphere,
good organizers and a good group of people. So yeah,
(03:46):
it was a great experience.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Yeah, I think was it twelve open medals the frozen
Ferns won, and then six world records, fifteen keen swimmers
kiwe keen swimmers who competed.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Yes, yes, that sounds that sounds right.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
What are you wear when you're doing this?
Speaker 2 (04:02):
So you're only allowed to wear normal swimming togs. So
for men that's either your sort of speedos or you
can wear any sort of the togs that go down
to above the meat and say for woman, anythink that's
approved for a normal swimming competition you can wear, but
no wet suits or neoprene or one in silicon cap
and one pair of goggles and earplugs if you want them,
(04:24):
and that's it. I was lucky to have a swimming,
competitive swimming background in my past and stuff which helps
me get into that sort of thing.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
So what's next for Cameron Stanley and the frozen fern.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
There is an ice swimming competition this year in Saint
Bathens in July. They alternate every year between one and
the open water and one on the pool, so this
is the open water year and that's where the people
do things like the ice miles, which is kind of
like the gold standard of being able to tolerate cold water
to swimmer mile. The longest rates from the pool is
(04:56):
a kilometer, so you have to do the mile open water,
so that's why they do it. And then next year
in twenty twenty six will be another competition in Alexander
and the pool and then that will be the selection
process for the twenty twenty seven World Champs because the
all the champs held every two years there in France,
and I know there is some good science around longevity
(05:17):
and stuff as well and cold exposure. So yes, when
I sent the kilometer earlier in the year for thirteen minutes,
but there are plenty of people that and that was
in two degrees and there are plenty of people that
swim for you know, twenty minutes plus and that sort
of temperature to get a kilometer done, so you have
to be pretty tough to be able to withstand those
temperatures for that long. And some of that is definitely
(05:38):
into as well as just physical training.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Still have to be careful that you go with people, right, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Definitely, I think that's a big consideration. I know that
one of the things that people notice when they're swimming
in cold water is that and this happened to a
number of people at the New Zealand Championships, is that
when you're horizontal and in the water you can still
move around, you start to notice you lose the coordination
and stuff. But sometimes you can get out and you
find you can't walk at all, and that was the
(06:07):
case for people, or you're very wobbly on your feet,
And I think if you go out by yourself, or
you push yourself a little bit too far too soon,
that you can end up in trouble. So I think
if you're getting into it for the first time, you're
best to go with someone else and to just start
with really short amounts. When I first started training for
it in the last winter, I was only going in
for a few minutes at a time, even though the
(06:29):
water was still twelve degrees or so. Then don't go
into five minutes, and then you sort of gradually can
build yourself up to last for longer and longer.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Oh good on you though, it's fantastic. Well, what a
treat for us. We really enjoyed finding out a little
bit more about frozen swimming, your ability to be able
to compete at the international level, which is fantastic. Congratulations
again and we look forward to hearing more from you
in the future.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Sounds good. Thank you very much for talking to me.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
For more from News Talks ed B listen live on
air or online and keep our shows view wherever you
go without podcasts on iHeartRadio.
If you want to be a frozen fern, this is
what you have to do. So to find out all
about it, let's go to someone who knows exactly what
being a frozen fern is. Cameron Stanley. He's just back
from the World champs Good morning, good morning, tell us
about being a frozen fern.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
So a frozen fern is the New Zealand ice swimming
team and we've recently been to the World Championships which
were held in Malto, Italy, which is up in the
Dollarmites in the northern end of it only.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
How did you get involved in ice swimming?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
I live in Wanaca, so I've dabbled with some cold
swimming in the parts in the lake in winter. But
I actually had a friend who saw it and was like, oh,
I might give this a go, but I'd be keen
to do it that you do. I sort of foolishly
said yes, yeah, sure enough. She decided she wanted to
do it and I was roped in right, So.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Tell us what the temperature is when you're in there.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
So it's actually swimming and it's a whole various things.
But the World Championship is held in a pool and
it's very different distances and events that you can swim
in the criteria for ice swimming if that the temperature
has to be under five degrees celsius, So it can't
be over that or it's not an official ice swimming event.
But it can go down as low as you can
(01:13):
get the pool without it freezing. So when we were
in Italy in Malveno, it did actually freeze the day
before the competition. They actually had to warm it up
a bit to stop it freezing. And I think we
were racing in around one to two degrees there, And
at the New Zealand Championships in July, which were held
in Alexandria, we were racing in about two degrees there.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
One would say you were well prepared, but how do
you prepare your body to plunge into temperatures of that
low degree.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
It's training, really, and in the same way that you
know if you do more running or do more swimming,
you get faster and better at over time. There's obviously
a limit to how much you can do that. It
is quite amazing how much the body does adapts to
the cold if you expose yourself regularly to it. So
I did most of my training in Lake Monica, which
is a little bit warm. Typically sits around eight to
(02:03):
nine degrees in winter. It doesn't get any ready any
colder than that. But I would go out in swim
per sort of, you know, twenty minutes, sometimes over a kilometer.
I also sort of spent some time in Auckland prior
to that, and actually drove up and on my drive
back and forth, I tried to swim and as many
bodies of water that were cold as I could. So
(02:24):
I swam in Lake pukuke Techapoul. I swam in the
waimakad Easy River and Canterbury and the Ashley River as
well in Cansbury and Lake Topaul and another river up
there as well, and then up in the sea in Auckland.
So I experienced a wide range of different bodies of
water to swimming, and they were also quite a wide
range of different temperatures, which is quite nice as well.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
It certainly prepared you well because when you look at
it means open one hundred meters eighth in the fifty
gold in your age group for both events. But that
was bronze and the means open one hundred, wasn't it.
And then there was a mixed relay fifty meter as well.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Yeah, no, I was fortunate to have some pretty pretty
good results over there. I was pretty happy, particularly with
one hundred backstroke on the first day. I ended up
getting sick after those ones and had to pull out
of a few events, but yeah, I was happy with
happy with those results.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
When you think about New Zealand and our population, we
became sixth out of forty seven teams over seven hundred swimmers.
As mentioned that all those countries taking place.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Yeah, there was an Olympian in the event that I
competed in, and he competed in a number of other
events as well. He actually was. He competed in Paris
and he came fifth I think in the turn of backstroke,
so I was pretty special to come up against him
stuff as well, and it was a great thing to
be a part of. It was a really good atmosphere,
good organizers and a good group of people. So yeah,
(03:46):
it was a great experience.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Yeah, I think was it twelve open medals the frozen
Ferns won, and then six world records, fifteen keen swimmers
kiwe keen swimmers who competed.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Yes, yes, that sounds that sounds right.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
What are you wear when you're doing this?
Speaker 2 (04:02):
So you're only allowed to wear normal swimming togs. So
for men that's either your sort of speedos or you
can wear any sort of the togs that go down
to above the meat and say for woman, anythink that's
approved for a normal swimming competition you can wear, but
no wet suits or neoprene or one in silicon cap
and one pair of goggles and earplugs if you want them,
(04:24):
and that's it. I was lucky to have a swimming,
competitive swimming background in my past and stuff which helps
me get into that sort of thing.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
So what's next for Cameron Stanley and the frozen fern.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
There is an ice swimming competition this year in Saint
Bathens in July. They alternate every year between one and
the open water and one on the pool, so this
is the open water year and that's where the people
do things like the ice miles, which is kind of
like the gold standard of being able to tolerate cold water
to swimmer mile. The longest rates from the pool is
(04:56):
a kilometer, so you have to do the mile open water,
so that's why they do it. And then next year
in twenty twenty six will be another competition in Alexander
and the pool and then that will be the selection
process for the twenty twenty seven World Champs because the
all the champs held every two years there in France,
and I know there is some good science around longevity
(05:17):
and stuff as well and cold exposure. So yes, when
I sent the kilometer earlier in the year for thirteen minutes,
but there are plenty of people that and that was
in two degrees and there are plenty of people that
swim for you know, twenty minutes plus and that sort
of temperature to get a kilometer done, so you have
to be pretty tough to be able to withstand those
temperatures for that long. And some of that is definitely
(05:38):
into as well as just physical training.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Still have to be careful that you go with people, right, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Definitely, I think that's a big consideration. I know that
one of the things that people notice when they're swimming
in cold water is that and this happened to a
number of people at the New Zealand Championships, is that
when you're horizontal and in the water you can still
move around, you start to notice you lose the coordination
and stuff. But sometimes you can get out and you
find you can't walk at all, and that was the
(06:07):
case for people, or you're very wobbly on your feet,
And I think if you go out by yourself, or
you push yourself a little bit too far too soon,
that you can end up in trouble. So I think
if you're getting into it for the first time, you're
best to go with someone else and to just start
with really short amounts. When I first started training for
it in the last winter, I was only going in
for a few minutes at a time, even though the
(06:29):
water was still twelve degrees or so. Then don't go
into five minutes, and then you sort of gradually can
build yourself up to last for longer and longer.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Oh good on you though, it's fantastic. Well, what a
treat for us. We really enjoyed finding out a little
bit more about frozen swimming, your ability to be able
to compete at the international level, which is fantastic. Congratulations
again and we look forward to hearing more from you
in the future.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Sounds good. Thank you very much for talking to me.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
For more from News Talks ed B listen live on
air or online and keep our shows view wherever you
go without podcasts on iHeartRadio.
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