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Swimming the length of Lake Wakatipu in the middle of winter is just part of the training schedule for a Dunedin teenager.
Otago Polytechnic sport and exercise student Jemimah McIlroy, 19, is undertaking the swim as part of a series of swimming-related challenges she is completing ahead of her attempt at the Cook Strait marathon swim this summer.
On Tuesday she will begin the five-day swimming journey with three others.
She will start at Glenorchy and, unlike her swimming in Dunedin, she will don a wetsuit.
‘‘I don’t even want to know how cold it’ll be.
‘‘I’ve heard it’s like 9˚C, but I’ve also heard from other people it’s more like 6˚C.’’
On Saturday, Miss McIlroy will also attempt to win the 1km no-wetsuit category of the Wakatipu Legend Winter Swim.
She hoped there would be fewer entrants in that category.
‘‘It’ll be cold ... I don’t think I would have a shot if it was warm.’’
She has swum around every island near Dunedin, including Quarantine Island, Goat Island, Bird Island, Green Island, White Island, Rabbit Island, Taieri Island, Pudding Island and Wharekakahu.
That is a total of about 30km.
However, she may have to re-do Wharekakahu after a bit of a timing mess-up.
‘‘I swam from the boat into the shore, touched the sand, went back out to the boat and round the island.
‘‘But then the driver said ‘right, we don’t have time for you to go back, hop on the boat’, then he took off.’’
Miss McIlroy also had a failed attempt at swimming in the world’s longest sea cave, Matanaka Cave, in Waikouaiti, due to the swell being too strong when she tried it.
Surprisingly, she is fairly new to swimming.
She only joined her ‘‘swim squad’’ this year.
She learnt to swim when she was 15 and had decided she wanted to take part in triathlons.
‘‘I watched some YouTube videos, went out to that little pool at Cherry Farm and tried to learn how to swim.
‘‘Compared to other triathletes, I was a pretty good swimmer.’’
It was only after a running injury she decided to take the plunge and started taking swimming seriously.
‘‘I needed something to motivate me to not sit on the couch and eat chips.’’
Now, she is primarily a swimmer and has had at least one ocean dip a day since the start of this year.
All the challenges and training will be worth it when she attempts to cross Cook Strait.
Her crossing will take place between December and March under the guidance of experienced marathon swimmer Philip Rush.
Her start date is to be confirmed next month depending on tides.
Miss McIlroy is attempting to raise $10,000 to take part, and has started a GiveaLittle page.
So far she has raised $876.
