A Catterick Garrison athlete has returned from the European Ice Swimming Championships with four gold medals, one silver and a new world record.
Verity Green achieved the remarkable haul at the championships in Italy, setting a new Para world record in the 200m Individual Medley while competing in water temperatures ranging from 1.4°C to 2.7°C. Races took place in conditions including heavy snowfall, with ice swimming defined by water temperatures below 5°C.
For Verity, who is deaf and has a balance disability, the sport’s strict safety protocols have proved transformative. Ice swimming rules include medical checks, ECG monitoring and a ban on diving and tumble turns – adaptations that enabled her to return to competitive swimming after being forced to retire more than 20 years ago.
“In photographs, it looks like an ordinary day at the pool,” she said. “But the conditions were intense. Because the sport adapts its rules for visibility and safety, I found a way back into the pool safely and competitively.”
Local readers may remember Verity from her 2021 solo swim of the English Channel. She is now preparing for another major endurance challenge – a 21-mile, two-way swim of Lake Windermere, covering the full length and back again.
The swim will raise funds for the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS), which supported her family after she was diagnosed as deaf as a baby.
Verity sees the “two-way” nature of the challenge as symbolic. She says her Team GB ice swimming teammates adapted their communication style to ensure she could compete at the highest level.
“They realised they had to change how they did things with me,” she explained.
“It was a constant reflection and a humble acknowledgement of their own communication – and that we had to work together. They worked to build the communication bridge, and I want to see the same in our public services.”
As a military spouse and veteran’s daughter, she believes engagement initiatives must better include those on the edges of communities, particularly people with disabilities and long-term conditions.
“We all communicate, but not everyone truly listens, and this has nothing to do with hearing ability,” she said. “My two-way swim represents a commitment from services to come back and truly consider the person in front of you.”
Supporters can back her fundraising campaign via her JustGiving page.
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