IISA Member Bio

IISA ID: 129

	Kate Steels IISA Board, Secretary

	Southampton England
	Country Association Great Britain
ICE ID:	110
Gender:	Female
Age:	53
Ice Miles:	11
ICE 7s:	7
Extreme:	1

About Kate Steels

I am the Chairman of IISA GB Board and secretary to the global IISA Board as well as being an IISA Official. Together with the other GB board Members I have responsibility for organizing the GB Ice Swimming Championships. I am grateful to have the opportunity to help shape the future of our unique and wonderful sport, and to promote it safely.

I feel very proud to have been inducted as Honour Swimmer into the Ice Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 2020.

I love to swim wherever I can - in the sea, rivers, lakes and swimming pool (Masters), in the UK and abroad. I enjoy open water swimming all year round. The buzz I get from ice swimming is amazing, and in the summer I really enjoy long distance / endurance swimming together with a variety of competitions and events. The camaraderie and friendship amongst the open water and ice swimming community is second to none.

My first cold water competition in cold water was at Tooting Bec Lido for the UKCWSC in 2013 where I won a bronze medal. However it wasnt until 2014, after the Jinan Festival of Springs Competition in China that I got a real taste of serious ice swimming. I travelled up to Harbin in the far NE of China and had several dips with the local ice swimming club. The air was -33 C .... it took an hour at dawn to clear the river pool from thick ice that formed each day, but the swimming was amazing.

In January 2015 I did my first official Ice Mile and then in March I was selected to represent the UK in the First World Ice Swimming Championships 1km in Murmansk, Russia. This was a serious challenge but one that I was very excited about and I trained extremely hard for. I had been swimming in local lakes and rivers 4-5 times a week. I had spent a week in Snowdonia hiking to the coldest lakes I could find to swim twice daily. Then, shortly before travelling to Russia I was given an old bath and resorted to having ice baths in my back garden !! The atmosphere and venue in Murmansk was spectacular -we were all treated like Olympians. The water was marginally above freezing and the air sub zero. I swam late in the day, after the solar eclipse. Soon after I started swimming the sun went behind the clouds and it snowed heavily. I was thrilled to finish the event and ecstatic to learn later that I had won a gold in my age group and set a new world record for my age group.

I am lucky enough to have travelled, and taken part in ice swims in many wonderful places. One particularly memorable trip was in March 2017 when I was lucky enough to be part of a swimming expedition to Arctic Norway. The fjord scenery was stunning, the sea crystal clear and icy cold. I successfully completed my Polar Ice Mile here.

The hardest swim I have ever done was the Ice Zero - my Ice Mile in China on Christmas Eve 2017. I am extremely pleased to have achieved this but certainly have no desire to repeat it!!

Some of my other swimming achievements include a 20 Bridges / Manhattan, USA (47km) 2018, English Channel Solo 2016 (32km), Lake Zurich Solo 2014 (26,4km) a 4 person relay around the Isle of Wight 2014 (58 miles) as well as a large number of shorter swims and competitions in the UK and abroad.

I am always pleased to be able to give something back to the swimming community and to inspire others. I have supported several swimmers doing cross channel solos and taken on the role of WOWSA observer for world record Iron Swim attempts in Tunisia.

I have established a cold water swim club, Swanwick Seals, at Andark Dive Lake, Lower Swanwick, Hampshire, and have successfully secured grant funding for a club sauna. Please find us on facebook if you would like to join - everyone welcome.

Finally, I would like to thank all my friends and family who have supported me over the years and helped me succeed in my swims.

Ice Miles

	Swim Date	Swim Location	Water Temp	Wind Chill	Swim Dist.	Swim Time	Body of Water	Altitude (m) GPS Latitude
1	31 Jan 2015	Andark Lake, Bursledon, Sou...	3.90°C	-1.00°C	1.0300mi	0:32:50	Open Water	50.88°N	view
2	3 Dec 2016	Andark Lake, Lower Swanwick...	4.80°C	2.20°C	1.0000mi	0:31:38	Pool	50.88°N	view
3	4 Mar 2017	Mikkelvik Brygge, Norway	2.37°C	-7.30°C	1.0600mi	0:33:16	Sea	70.01°N	view
4	15 Dec 2017	Lac Aguelmame Sidi Ali, Atl...	3.83°C	-2.00°C	1.1300mi	0:35:00	Lake	33.08°N	view
5	24 Dec 2017	South Lake, Shuangyashan Ci...	0.90°C	-22.10°C	1.0100mi	0:35:05	Lake	46.65°N	view
6	3 Mar 2018	Lee-On-Solent, Hampshire, UK	3.07°C	0.20°C	1.0600mi	0:33:04	Sea	50.80°N	view
7	21 Apr 2019	Lake Simcoe, Beaverton, Canada	4.13°C	7.90°C	1.0000mi	0:31:42	Lake	44.43°N	view
8	31 Aug 2019	Lake Lyndon, New Zealand	3.93°C	4.50°C	1.0500mi	0:31:57	Lake	43.30°S	view
9	21 Nov 2021	Lake Esmeralda, Ushuaia, Ar...	4.33°C	-1.60°C	1.0100mi	0:29:19	Glacial Lake	500m 54.69°S	view
10	22 Jan 2022	Llanwit, Wales, UK	4.60°C	4.40°C	1.0100mi	0:28:49	Pool	10m 51.40°N	view
11	28 Jan 2023	Andark Lake, Oslands Lane, ...	3.97°C	6.10°C	1.0100mi	0:29:47	Lake	30m 50.52°N	view

IISA 1km Swims

Only IISA Swims <= 5.0°C

	Swim Date	Event Name	Country Association	Event Venue	Swim Time	Water Temp	Wind Chill	Altitude (m) GPS Latitude	AR
1	20 Mar 2015	IISA 1st World Champio...	Russian Federation	Lake Semenovskoye, Mur...	19:30.00	0.08°C	-5.00°C		AR	view
2	20 Feb 2016	IISA Great Britain IK ...	Great Britain	Andark Lake, Southampt...	17:48.00	5.00°C	0.00°C			view
3	26 Feb 2016	Estonian 1km Ice Swimm...	Estonia	Tallinn	18:43.00	0.00°C	0.00°C			view
4	6 Jan 2017	2nd Ice Swimming Aqua ...	Germany	Burghausen, Bavaria	18:44.18	3.40°C	-11.10°C			view
5	11 Feb 2017	Ice Cup & GB Ice Swimm...	Great Britain	The Cruin, Loch Lomond...	20:09.00	4.20°C	0.90°C	56.02°N	Open Water	view
6	25 Feb 2018	IISA GB Championships	Great Britain	Hatfield Outdoor Activ...	17:40.36	3.60°C	1.10°C			view
7	18 Mar 2019	IISA III World Champ M...	Russian Federation	murmansk, semyonovskoe...	17:31.32	0.00°C	-6.30°C			view
8	6 Jan 2020	6th Ice Swimming Aqua ...	Germany	Veitsbronn Germany	18:15.90	2.80°C	4.00°C			view
9	15 Jan 2023	5th World Championship...	France	Samoens	16:33.80	3.70°C	2.00°C			view

AR = Age-Group Record

ER = Swim Event Record

WR = World Record

WC = World Championship Record

Short and Other IISA distances

Only IISA Swims <= 5.0°C

Event Distance	Swim Date	Event Name	Event Venue	Country Association	Swim Time (mm:ss:cc)	Water Temp	Wind Chill	Altitude (m) GPS Latitude
500m Freestyle	25 Feb 2018	IISA GB Championships	Hatfield Outdoor Activ...	Great Britain	08:31.75	3.60°C	1.1°C	53.58°N	view
500m Freestyle	18 Mar 2019	IISA III World Champ M...	murmansk, semyonovskoe...	Russian Federation	08:22.23	0.00°C	-6.3°C	68.97°N	view
500m Freestyle	6 Jan 2020	6th Ice Swimming Aqua ...	Veitsbronn Germany	Germany	08:40.10	2.80°C	4.0°C	49.51°N	view
500m Freestyle	15 Jan 2023	5th World Championship...	Samoens	France	07:46.79	3.70°C	2.0°C	1000m 46.06°N	view
100m Freestyle	15 Jan 2023	5th World Championship...	Samoens	France	01:23.72	3.70°C	2.0°C	1000m 46.06°N	view
100m Breaststroke	11 Feb 2017	Ice Cup & GB Ice Swimm...	The Cruin, Loch Lomond...	Great Britain	02:41.00	4.20°C	0.9°C	56.02°N	view
50m Freestyle	18 Mar 2019	IISA III World Champ M...	murmansk, semyonovskoe...	Russian Federation	00:41.04	0.00°C	-6.3°C	68.97°N	view
50m Breaststroke	18 Mar 2019	IISA III World Champ M...	murmansk, semyonovskoe...	Russian Federation	00:46.79	0.00°C	-6.3°C	68.97°N	view
50m Breaststroke	15 Jan 2023	5th World Championship...	Samoens	France	00:48.62	3.70°C	2.0°C	1000m 46.06°N	view

Qualifying Swims

IISA Qualifying Swims & IISA Event Swims > 5.0°C

	Swim Date	Swim Location	Event Name	Swim Distance	Stroke	Status	Water Temp	Wind Chill	Swim Time	Altitude (m)	Observer
1	20 Feb 2016	Andark Lake, Lower...		1000m	Crawl	Accepted	5.00°C	0.00°C	17:48.00	-	Rory Fitzgerald	view
2	03 Dec 2017	Keepers Pond, Brecon...		1010m	Crawl	Accepted	2.90°C	4.00°C	18:08.00	-	Cath Pendleton	view
3	06 Dec 2018	Tyumen		500m	Crawl	Accepted	0.50°C	-20.00°C	08:42.00	-	Rory Fitzgerald	view
4	05 Jan 2019	IISA GB Champs 2019,...		1000m	Crawl	Accepted	5.50°C	4.50°C	17:52.00	-	Andrea Startin	view
5	06 Jan 2019	IISA Gb Champs, Hatfield		500m	Crawl	Accepted	5.50°C	7.00°C	08:27.00	-	Andrea Startin	view
6	15 Nov 2021	Ushuaia		3000m	Crawl	Accepted	8.90°C	0.00°C	51:10.00	-	Rory Fitzgerald	view
7	06 Jan 2019	Hatfield Outdoor...	IISA GB Championships...	1000m	Crawl	Accepted	5.50°C	4.50°C	17:52.00	-	Kate Steels	view
8	29 Dec 2019	Amsterdam, The Amstel	Amstel Ice Swim	1000m	Crawl	Accepted	5.30°C	-2.80°C	19:19.84	-	Fergil Hesterman	view
9	23 Feb 2020	SANDFORD LIDO	IISA GB CHAMPIONSHIPS	1000m	Crawl	Accepted	6.50°C	0.00°C	16:36.32	-	Kate Steels	view
10	06 Jan 2019	Hatfield Outdoor...	IISA GB Championships...	500m	Crawl	Accepted	5.50°C	4.50°C	08:27.00	-	Kate Steels	view
11	29 Dec 2019	Amsterdam, The Amstel	Amstel Ice Swim	500m	Crawl	Accepted	5.30°C	-2.80°C	09:28.81	-	Fergil Hesterman	view
12	23 Feb 2020	SANDFORD LIDO	IISA GB CHAMPIONSHIPS	500m	Crawl	Accepted	6.50°C	0.00°C	08:10.00	-	Kate Steels	view
13	12 Feb 2023	Sandford Lido	IISA GB 2023...	250m	Crawl	Accepted	5.47°C	10.60°C	03:44.25	0m	Kate Steels	view
14	12 Feb 2023	Sandford Lido	IISA GB 2023...	100m	Crawl	Accepted	5.47°C	10.60°C	01:22.03	0m	Kate Steels	view

IISA Relay Swims

4-person relay events

Relay Distance	Swim Date	Event Name	Event Venue	Country Association	Swim Time (mm:ss:cc)	Water Temp	Wind Chill	Altitude (m) GPS Latitude
4 x 50m Mixed Freestyle Relay	15 Jan 2023	5th World Championship...	Samoens	France	02:36.99	3.70°C	2.0°C	1000m 46.06°N		view
4 x 50m VIP Relay	15 Jan 2023	5th World Championship...	Samoens	France	02:18.90	3.70°C	2.0°C	1000m 46.06°N		view

Other Swims

Solo

	Swim Date	Location (Description)	Time Taken	Swim Distance	Avg Dist. Per Day	Water Temp	Wind Chill	Observer / Witness	Awards
1	28 Nov 2016	Serpentine Pond, London (Swim)	18:20	1,000 m	-	4.4°C [hi] 0°C [lo]	2°C	Matthew Johnston		view

Photos

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