Winter Swim Challenges

Chilly Challenge:

For the Chilly Challenge there are no restrictions on what clothing or accessories you can wear to swim. Wetsuits, vests and base layers, hats, boots, gloves etc are all permitted but not required, meaning you can swim with or without a wetsuit on different occasions should you wish. You can wear any accessories including nose plugs, ear plugs, goggles, swim caps etc.

Frosty Challenge:

For the Frosty Challenge you can wear standard swim wear that has no sleeves past the shoulder and doesn’t pass the knee. It must be made of standard swimwear material (no neoprene or thermal layers). Only one swimsuit can be worn (one piece or 2 piece but no double layers). You can wear neoprene hat, boots and gloves. Wetsuits, vests and base layers are all prohibited. You can wear any accessories including nose plugs, ear plugs, goggles etc.

Ice Master:

For the Ice Master challenge you can wear standard swim wear that has no sleeves past the shoulder and doesn’t pass the knee. It must be made of standard swimwear material (no neoprene or thermal layers). Only one swimsuit can be worn (one piece or 2 piece but no double layers. You can wear neoprene hats, boots and gloves. Wetsuits, vests and base layers etc are all prohibited. You can wear accessories including nose plugs, ear plugs, goggles etc.

These are open water swimming challenges and can be completed in a lake, river, the sea, reservoir or an unheated lido/outdoor pool/swim spa or equivalent. If swimming where there is a current you are required to swim an equal distance with and against the current on each swim. It is your responsibility to ensure that you only swim in locations where swimming is permitted and that all guidelines, rules and regulations are adhered to for that venue. You cannot complete these challenges in any pool which is heated.

It is also your responsibility to ensure that the venue is safe for swimming at the time and that you have taken all necessary safety precautions.

This challenge is aimed at those swimming in the UK. If you live outside of the UK the water temperatures cannot be more than 2 degrees centigrade warmer than the highest UK sea temperature on that day. This information can be widely found online. Eg https://www.thebeachguide.co.uk/sea-temperature

For the Chilly there are no restrictions on what clothing or accessories you can wear to swim. Wetsuits, vests and base layers, hats, boots, gloves etc are all permitted but not required. For Frosty and  Ice Master challenges, wetsuits are NOT permitted but accessories such as gloves/boots/hats etc are permitted.

You will need to record the details of your swims for each challenge that you enter so that you can submit them to us. For each swim you must record - date, swim distance, swim duration (time), water temperature in degrees Celsius (optional for Chilly/Frosty), and if you wore a wetsuit or not.

You can use a fitness watch or tracker such as a Garmin or on a fitness app to measure the distance/time of your swim for your monthly submission or a free app like the OSMaps to manually measure the distance of a swim you have done. You may also record your swim details manually. At a swim venue they will likely provide you with information such as course distance and water temperature or you can estimate it using google maps or. You may wish to purchase a suitable digital thermometer to record water temperature if not swimming at a venue that provides it. These challenges rely on honesty and we expect all entrants to be honest with their own results.

All temperatures stated in our challenges are in degree Celsius and all submissions are required in Celsius, not Fahrenheit

You can enter as many challenges as you like and each swim can count in more than one category so long as the category conditions are adhered to. You can select to copy swims to another challenge in the submissions log so long as all the required sections are complete and the challenge dates are adhered to (eg October swims can't be copied to Festive Swim as it starts in December, you must have temperature recorded for Ice Master etc).

We suggest that after each swim you submit those details on one form and copy it to all the challenges you wish to include it in. For example if you enter the Chilly and Frosty a swim can only count for both if it is non wetsuit as this is a condition of the Frosty, then this swim details will need to be copied onto the submission form for the Chilly.

We suggest that you submit after each swim. This is so that you can keep track of your submissions however you could submit all swims at the end of the challenge. To view previous submissions look in the submissions log below the submissions boxes.

If you are taking part in more than one challenge you must copy over the submissions to each challenge. One swim may be submitted for more than one challenge so long as it meets the requirements for both challenges (ie dates and required information completed).

Submission forms, a log of your swims and the leader boards can be found via the submissions page of the website and your account page. You must be logged in to submit and view your submissions log.

We do not require evidence of your swims but we do require all the details stated above for each swim (date, distance, time, temp, wetsuit). These challenges rely on your honesty. You may wish to keep more records such as photographs of you at each swim, the thermometer, photos or screenshots of your swim data on your fitness tracker etc but these are not required for submission. They are great to share in the Facebook group!!

Where there is a temperature requirement (Ice Master) the temperature is counted by whole degrees. So if you are required to swim in water 5 degrees or less then any temp from 5.9 or lower can be counted.

You have 14 days after purchase of your challenge to request a full refund. After this time no refunds can be given for any reasons.

Yes based on availability. If you plan to swap challenges you must inform us before you complete your challenge. Please email [email protected].

No, entries cannot be transferred at any stage of the challenge.

The challenges have a minimum swim requirement but are open ended. If you haven't clicked 'Challenge Complete' to end your challenge you can continue to log swims and see your progress in your swim log and leader board but your awards will not be sent until you click the Challenge Complete button to end your challenge. Once you have clicked Challenge Complete you cannot submit any more swims or edit your submissions.

Once you have clicked Challenge Complete on the submissions form you cannot submit any more swims or edit your submissions as this ends your challenge. If you haven't completed the minimum requirement we will see this when we check the results and will re-open your challenge for more submissions. If you have met the minimum requirement we will accept your submissions and send your awards. If you think you clicked to end your challenge by mistake please email [email protected] and if we haven't sent your awards we will reopen the challenge for you.

The challenges have a minimum swim requirement but are open ended. If you haven't clicked 'Challenge Complete' to end your challenge you can continue to log swims and see your progress in your swim log and leader board but your awards will not be sent until you click the Challenge Complete button to end your challenge.

This is an honesty based challenge so record the details to the best of your ability (an honest estimate is ok). You can use resources such as weather apps/websites to estimate water temperature and google maps/google earth/map my run etc to estimate distance. You can also use the Facebook group and ask other swimmers for water temps etc to get a reasonable estimate. If this is for submission to the Ice Master/Legend we will allow submissions without proof at our discretion.

You can end your challenge by clicking the Challenge Complete button at any time before March 31^st . Be aware once you click the button you will no longer be able to submit more swims.

To end your challenge, make sure all your data is submitted and then click the Challenge Complete button to end your challenge and send your results for checking. You will receive any awards within 14 days of clicking Challenge Complete or at the latest by the end of April.

If you do not complete the challenge requirements by March 31^st AND submit the results by the deadline of 14^th April, then you will not receive your badge.

If you do not submit results for all swims before the final submission deadline of 14th April, your achievements will be based on the results you have already submitted. If this means you have fulfilled the requirements of the challenge your awards will be sent out. If your results to that point do not meet the requirements to complete your challenge then you will not receive your awards.

Awards are sent out within 14 days of you clicking the 'Challenge Complete' button if you have met the challenge requirements. They will be sent by post to the address you put on your entry. If you address changes you can change this in the My Account section of our website but we ask that you also email us to alert us of this change so that we can ensure your awards are sent to the correct address.

If you don't click the challenge complete button before the end of the challenge submissions deadline, we will check your submissions after the final deadline and if you you have met the conditions for the awards we will send them by the end of April.

If you have not yet ended your challenge by clicking the Challenge Complete button, you can click the trash can icon on the left in the submissions log to delete that submission then re-submit with the correct details. If you have already clicked the Challenge Complete button to end your challenge you will need to email us.

Please check junk/spam folders and make sure you check the account for the email address you put on your entry form. A search for [email protected] can help find emails that didn't make it past your spam filters. Also add this email address to your safe senders list to help them avoid the spam filters. Please email us if you have any problems.

Our Facebook group is only open to people who have entered a challenge. The link to the group will be sent with your welcome email. If you cannot find this email please check junk/spam folders and contact us if you have any problems. Please request to join the group AND complete the joining questions. If you do not complete the questions you will not be approved. If you add a member to the group they will not be approved if they haven’t completed the joining questions.