Ice swimmer 'ecstatic' after championship bronze

At one stage in Italy, the water was -10C (10F) and organisers had to regularly remove thick ice with axes

A woman representing Great Britain at the Ice Swimming World Championship said her "mental strength was challenged" as she braved freezing temperatures to take home a bronze medal.

Amy Mellor, who lives in Thrapston, Northamptonshire, swam in water less than 5C (41F) at the event in Molveno, Italy.

She won a bronze in her age group, 45-50, swimming the 100m backstroke.

The 45-year-old said: "I have massive doubts every time I line up for an ice swim, but each time you feel such a sense of achievement."

The championship sees more than 700 swimmers from more than 45 countries take part in races including freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly.

Ms Mellor has previously competed in one European competition and two world championships.

She said: "I've been swimming since I was seven years old and I love the open water, so I swim all year round."

In 2020, Ms Mellor went to the British championships and won the 1,000m race.

"That was definitely the turning point of how I got into ice swimming," she said.

"You end up finding a new part of yourself that you never knew existed because of the mental challenge."

Before Ms Mellor started ice swimming, she swam the English Channel in memory of her father, who died from cancer.

In 2019 she completed the 21-mile (34km) challenge in 14 hours and 19 minutes.

"I told my parents when I was seven that I'd swim the channel one day," she said.

"Six hours in, when it went dark and I did start to panic. I didn't want to do it any more, but I kept going."