Transcript

CATH PENDLETON:

I’m Cath Pendleton. And believe it or not, I’m going to swim a mile in the coldest place on Earth, Antarctica. Most people would die of hypothermia after 15 minutes in these waters. I’d be in there for at least 35.

WOMAN

Some people do yoga to sort of get to their moment and have their happy place and sort of reset and calm down. And for her, hers is just going in the water.

CATH PENDLETON

I got completely hooked. I was swimming four or five times a week.

WOMAN

She just sort of turned around one day and was like, you know what? I’m going to book in for the Channel. And next thing you know, within a year, she’d already swum the Channel.

CATH PENDLETON

And then things got even more crazy. I was selected to represent Great Britain in the World Ice Swimming Championships in Russia and came away with third in my age group.

WOMAN

We were like, you’ve done so well. And she was like, oh, yeah. But it’s the next thing I’ve got to do now.

CATH PENDLETON

I’d been told about this incredible challenge for ice swimmers, to swim one mile in each of the seven continents.

MAN 1

Very few people in the world have the ability to go to those limits. You’d have to be the fastest swimmer. You have to be rock-solid in your training.

CATH PENDLETON

And then yeah, the freezer journey began.

Yeah.

I was thinking, if I can’t just sit in this freezer, then I’m going to really struggle. Although I felt I could do it, there was always that element of doubt.

After six days at sea, we had arrived. If the swim was to go ahead here, we would be the first people in the world to swim a mile this far south.

I just knew if I don’t sit still and relax, I’m not going to pass my medical. And then all of a sudden, it was like, OK, you’ve passed.

So it was like, you’re going first. I was like, OK. That’s fine. And then the tide came and off we went. And then it was like, go.

MAN 2

[SPEAKING SPANISH]

CATH PENDLETON

So I’m swimming away. And I’d taken on a little bit of water. And I was coughing. And I was thinking, I really need to stop and cough this water out.

But I thought, if I stop, they’ll think I’m in danger. And they’ll stop me. So I’m like, just cough underwater. Get a grip, Cath. Just swim.

I knew I could do it. But every swim is different. Some days, it’s just not your day.

Every time I did sight the boat, it just still seemed so far away. But each time I see people clapping.

MAN 1

Come on, Cath.

CATH PENDLETON

There’s just something in my brain that says, don’t give up. Keep going. Eventually, they were like, you can stop. I was like, yeah.

[CHEERING]

I’ve trained really, really hard. I’ve pushed my body to the limits. And you know what? To be the first, to be able to say you’ve done anything first in the world is just absolutely awesome.