Cindy Guyon, 52, was trying to be first particular person in Canada to butterfly-swim one ‘ice mile,’ and presumably the primary woman on the earth to perform the feat
An try at a world-first swimming document passed off in Barrie on Sunday as Collingwood native Cindy Guyon braved the frigid waters of Kempenfelt Bay.
Guyon, 52, was trying to be the primary in Canada to butterfly-swim one “ice mile” beneath the circumstances set out by the Worldwide Ice Swimming Affiliation (IISA), and presumably the primary woman on the earth to perform the feat. Just one man has ever accomplished it.
In response to Guyon, Amy Ross was one of many first Canadian ladies to finish the ice-mile try beneath IISA rules, however not whereas utilizing the butterfly method.
Solely 12 individuals in Canada have accomplished the ice mile in any type, together with 569 individuals worldwide.
Guyon can be elevating cash for breast most cancers analysis as a part of her efforts.
“There’s a number of regulations to ensure that anybody attempting this is fully prepared to do it,” Guyon instructed BarrieToday on the seaside simply previous to her coming into the water.
“It is not a competition, so at any time, and I feel I’ve done this enough now that I know when my body says, oh, this is no good, then I will exit the water before completing the full mile, which is OK. Then I’ll try again in the spring,” she added.
The indicators of issues beginning to go awry throughout a swim is when her physique’s core begins to really feel heat, “and I start thinking, hey, this is not so bad. This is really good. That’s when I know that, yeah, it’s time (to stop and get out of the water).”
Even at first of a swim, the bodily expertise isn’t that nice, both.
“Right off the top when I get in the water, my arms and my legs, especially my feet and my hands, are in pain. It hurts,” Guyon defined. “After which I can really feel my arms and my legs type of tingle, after which in all probability about 400 metres into it, they will begin to go numb.
“As long as I can feel that lively cold then I am good to go.”
With a throng of supporters cheering her on, Guyon walked out into the water and started her swim. She saved up a very good tempo, however sadly, after an astonishing 47 minutes within the 2-degree Celsius water, she ended her try at historical past.
Because of the chilly, Guyon fell simply wanting her purpose, lacking it by simply 200 metres. She managed 1,420 metres earlier than stopping.
Guyon struggled to get to shore, and when she was pulled from the water by her family and friends, she couldn’t stand beneath her personal energy. She was shortly hustled off to a close-by warming tent to recuperate.
“I almost did it, but I’m looking forward to trying it again in the spring when the sun is shining and the water is between four and five degrees, which is what I had originally anticipated,” she stated a couple of hours after her swim.
What goes by her thoughts after half-hour tick by and the swimming will get powerful?
“My mind wanders, so I really try and concentrate on swimming in a straight line, and I’m also trying to pay attention to my body, to figure out if I should get out, which I should have done a little earlier,” Guyon stated.
She stated her arms weren’t getting out of the water as a lot whereas she was swimming, which her staff took as an indication of misery, so that they pulled the plug on the try.
“I was on autopilot at that point,” Guyon added. “I wasn’t going to be calling something, and doubtless would have simply saved going, so it was a very good name on their half.
“I’m not dissatisfied.”
To assist in warming herself up, her staff towelled her off in a heated tent close by and gave her heat fluids to drink, together with scorching packs and hand-warmers. She instantly climbed onto a rowing machine within the tent and rowed for half-hour, which helped hold her blood circulating and on the proper temperature.
After she left the seaside, she was positioned in a heat tub to finish her recuperation.
Guyon stated she achieved extra on this present day than she anticipated and is trying ahead to coaching all through the remainder of the winter earlier than taking one other stab on the ice-mile document in a return to Centennial Seaside.
“The support system that I had was absolutely amazing,” she stated of her family and friends readily available Sunday.
Guyon can be utilizing her occasion and a spotlight to boost cash for breast most cancers analysis, which will be discovered right here.
The video beneath reveals the immense effort put forth by Guyon in her document try.
