It took just 100 days for Stratford schoolgirl Madeline Hobo to go from unassuming open water competitor to world champion ice swimmer.
The 16-year-old NPGHS student broke the U18 female 500m world record during July and is now busy training and fund-raising to represent New Zealand at the World Ice Swimming Championships in Italy.
Her orange swimsuit stood out amongst the masses of wetsuit-clad swimmers about to enter the water to swim across the Auckland Harbour back in March. It was how Madeline Hobo was first identified as a potential ice swimmer — someone who could take on the rigours of swimming in sub-five degree water (but not actually in, or under, ice).
A member of the fledgling New Zealand ice swimming community was there that day and asked Madeline if she would like to become an ice swimmer.
Unsure but excited, she headed back to her accommodation where she and mum Lorna Hobo, looked up all they could about ice swimming.
When they got to the part about it being potentially dangerous, Lorna’s first reaction was to pour cold water on the idea.
But when Madeline asked for a chest freezer for her 16th birthday in May, Lorna and husband Richard duly delivered.
So what can go wrong?
“There’s definitely lots of heart risks — cardiac arrests, that sort of stuff,” says Madeline confidently. “Especially if you warm up too quickly because it confuses the body and sends blood where it shouldn’t.”
So no jumping in a spa or hot shower immediately afterwards and no hot drinks initially either.
Madeline’s preferred method to warm up is lots of hot water bottles — but never directly on the skin, there’s always a few layers of merino clothing first.
“The wool wicks the moisture from my skin and keeps the warmth in.”
Hypothermia is quite common for ice swimmers and Madeline remembers one experience in six degree water in a tributary feeding into Lake Taupo during July.
“I stayed in for like 20 minutes and I went a little loopy after that and couldn’t stand up straight and my speech was slurring and stuff. I thought I was having a great time!”
There’s also the “after-drop” where your body temperature continues to plummet even once you’re out of the water.
“That can involve a lot of shivering for sometimes an hour or more after your race.”
Consequently each ice swimming competition always has plenty of medics and volunteers to help the swimmers recover.
“So though it’s an individual sport there’s a big team aspect to it and a really great culture of everyone looking after each other.”
BECOMING A WORLD CHAMPION
Once she’d had her first dip in the chest freezer now installed in their garage (at 4.3 degrees C), Madeline headed to Wilkies Pools (sub 8 degrees) on Mt Taranaki with her mum. She treats it as an infinity pool, swimming against the current from the waterfall that runs info it, for up to 15 minutes. And yes, she has a go on the natural rockslide the waterfall courses down while she’s at it.
The Patea River is another favoured spot and recently Matt and Megan Dimock (of Dimocks 100%) have made their pool available for Madeline’s training, set at 10 degrees.
“You don’t actually do your training at under five degrees because that’s quite dangerous. Anything under thirteen is good and the warmer the water is the longer you stay in. Like the 10 – 13 degree mark you want to be in for an hour or so. But as it gets colder you’re spending less and less time in the water. It’s just about time in the water really, rather than the distance you’re swimming.”
Because it takes a lot of time and effort to go training — Wilkies Pools is a 3 hour round trip — there’s no backing out once she gets there.
Mum Lorna’s role is to ensure Madeline’s safety and help her change out of cold togs and into warm dry clothing as soon as possible.
The shivering makes it difficult to use her hands or grip anything and Madeline gets exhausted.
“The first time I went under five degrees swimming was at the National Ice Swimming Champs in Alexandra during July.”
Held at the 25m long outdoor pool at Molyneux Park, the temperature of the water was 2.1 and swimmers compete in their togs, goggles and a belt (in case they need hauling out in an emergency).
Competition went for five days and Madeline swam every day — some days she had two races.
“I remember the first day the minute I’d warmed up after my first swim, I was straight back in for my next race.
“I did the 500, 250 metre and 100 free; the 200m IM (Individual Medley) and the 100m breaststroke.”
She won the 500m freestyle for U18 females. “I’ve always liked the longer distance swims and trained really hard for that, so it was really cool to be pull off what I did.”
She knew what the world record was (7 mins and 49 secs) and having clocked a warm pool time of under six and a half minutes, felt she could break it.
“Warm muscles race faster and in cold water you don’t have the same range of motion,” Madeline explains. Also, in ice swimming there are no dives, no tumble-turns and no underwater fly-kicks.
She smashed the world record in 7 mins and 14.5 secs but didn’t find out until about an hour after the race. Her first priority was to get warm — that was the longest time Madeline had ever spent in water below five degrees — and when she found out about the world record she says she didn’t have much of a reaction.
“It’s really difficult to walk after you’ve done a big race. You get all wobbly and your feet get sore.”
“Watching Madeline swim the 500 metre race was quite terrifying and quite upsetting,” says Lorna. “I think we were both in tears at the end. It was really hard to watch. Definitely she had maxxed herself in the water — it took her a good while to get warm again. It was quite emotional.”
The world record wasn’t Madeline’s only accolade from the Nationals … she also set a new Oceania/NZ U18 record in the 100m breaststroke.
Her worst race was the 200m IM — the last race she did at nationals.
“I was just kind of over it and I’d entered that one at the last minute,” she grimaces. “It was a bit awful — especially the backstroke cos I couldn’t see where I was going. I was cold and numb and I was scraping against the lane ropes. Not a good race.”
Madeline’s entered in one race per day for the World Champs being held in Lake Molveno, Italy, during January. This will be the sixth World Ice Swimming Champs after it was inaugurated in 2017.
Madeline will be defending her world record title in the 500m Freestyle on Day 1, then the 250m and 100m freestyle, the 100m breaststroke and the 200m IM. She’s hoping it will be a little warmer that the 2.1 degrees of Alexandra.
Now that she’s a world champion, getting in cold water hasn’t become easier. “Definitely it’s a big mental challenge, every time. But once you’re in it’s fine. Anything under 2.5 degrees is where I struggle personally.
“I like to tell myself ‘the quicker you get in the quicker you can get out’. I also find it easier to get in if I tell myself it’s only for a short amount of time. But once I’m actually in the water, staying in is the easy bit.
And there is a plus side…
“Once you get past the pain there’s a real adrenaline rush, a good dopamine hit.”
She says ice swimming has improved her mental discipline and her physical recovery after things like the school cross country.
“Telling myself I’m going to get into the water or get into the freezer and then following through with it is really important, even if I don’t want to.”
A HIT WITH MEDIA
Madeline’s first taste of fame was in the New Zealand Herald but her appearance on Breakfast TV the following week started somewhat of a media storm.
Two days after her Breakfast interview (which was done via FaceTime) she was flown to Auckland for her appearance on Seven Days for their Guest Who? section.
“I got to leave school early,” she recalls, “and Mum and I got picked up from Auckland Airport by a driver in a suit with this tablet and he had ‘Madeline Hobo’ written on it, which I thought was really cool … to see stuff with my name on it.
“The hotel was amazing — the Cordis, it was five stars, I looked it up! It had a rooftop pool so I had to go and check that out and jump in the spa.
“When we got to the studio they had dinner for us and dessert and snacks. Then I got miked up, a little bit of powder on my face and they sent me out with a bag on my head.”
She enjoyed her interview on MORE FM, liking the questions asked and answering them well and has now clocked up about a dozen interviews. Yet she doesn’t think she’s ever been asked if she enjoys ice swimming.
So does she?
“Yes, I think I do enjoy it. I don’t think it’s something people expect me to enjoy which is maybe why they don’t ask. When I was younger (maybe six or so) and we went to the South Island, I made it my mission to get in every single river or lake that I could find — just getting in the water. Since then I’ve always been like that. I feel like that’s part of why I knew I wanted to do ice swimming. Using my love for cold water to do competitive swimming at a national — and international — level.”
Between now and December, Madeline and her family will continue fund-raising — not only for Madeline’s airfare and expenses but also for the team of 17 competitors, the aptly named Frozen Ferns.
Training continues though local waters are starting to warm-up (not Wilkies Pools though). Hence why the NZ ice-swimming team are leaving in December. They need to acclimatise first and will be heading to Great Britain for a training camp before the World Champs in Italy.
“I’m so stoked that the first time I get to travel internationally it will be to represent New Zealand.”
If you would like to help Madeline get to Molveno for the World Champs head to givealittle.co.nz/mad_hobo