QEII schoolteacher Carole Laporte made her debut at the International Ice Swimming Association (IISA) World Championship last week.

More than 700 swimmers from 45 countries headed to Molveno in the Italian Dolomite mountains for the biennial event.

Laporte had previously raced in the 2022 and 2023 British Championships, both held in Cheltenham, and qualified to join Team GB.

At the first European Championship held in Oradea, Romania at the beginning of 2024, she represented the Isle of Man as a part of the British team. December saw her racing in her third British Championship at Rother Park near Sheffield.

The setting for the World Championships was a beautiful eight-lane, 50-metre pool next to Lake Molveno set in the picturesque and snowy mountains of northern Italy.

Before action got underway, there was the formality of registration and medical checks. With so many competitors to process - this took most of the day.

Medical certificates, with ECG results, were checked over and each entrant was subject to an on-the-spot blood pressure test to ensure that they were fit for the extreme demands of racing in ice cold water.

Unfortunately, some were unable to meet the criteria and were excluded from taking part in the competition, as per the strict safety rules.

As an additional safety measure, when competitors finished the longer 500 and 1,000m races, they were be required to attend the medical room for a check over or face disqualification.

It must be emphasised that this is one of the most extreme sports around and not for the inexperienced or unacclimatised.

On registration day the pool was frozen over and looked more like an ice rink set for a skating championship.

Organisers had to break the inch-thick ice and pour in hot water working all night to make the pool fit for swimming, as ice can easily cut the skin.

The temperature was raised to 1.9 degrees Celsius, so there was absolutely no doubt that the event would meet the official IISA requirement that the water temperature be below five degrees.

On race day one the opening event was the 100m backstroke involving two lengths of the pool but, despite the overnight efforts, the start was delayed by 30 minutes as ice clearing continued.

Seed times for the World Championship are largely based on previous performances in home country championships and previous swims.

There were 70 female entrants in 10 heats for the 100m backstroke, with Laporte's age group category being well represented by 11 entries and she was seeded fifth fastest.

The race went according to seed time, with only 8.5 seconds separating first to sixth. These six proved to be the dominant force and set the tone for the championship.

Later in the day there was more foretaste of things to come. Laporte had not entered the 500m freestyle race but her age group category had an interesting result with the win coming from a new name, Anneke Veenstra from the Netherlands.

She beat Laporte's Team GB team-mate Sian Clement by 11 hundredths of a second. With the Dutchwoman also entered in the 1,000m event, there was clearly going to be a showdown.

Race day two included the 50m backstroke, for which Laporte was seeded joint fourth with another GB team-mate, Amy Mellor.

In the 100m event Mellor had beaten her by 1.2 seconds and therefore Laporte was looking for revenge and a chance to medal.

She upped the pace by 1.5s better than her seed time and saw off Mellor by 0.3s, but Italy’s Natascha Pretto grabbed bronze by 1.5s, having been fourth for the 100m backstroke.

With the level of competition being so high at this World Championship, it was going to be a nervous 24 hours waiting for the 1,000m blue riband freestyle event.

The latter started on the afternoon of race day three, by which time the water temperature had dropped to 1.5 degrees.

In the early heats a couple of competitors had to be tended by paramedics which was a little unnerving for others, highlighting the extreme demands put on the body by racing such a distance in very cold water.

Based on seed times, there were six dominant competitors spread between heats seven, eight and nine.

Of the three in heats seven and eight, the French competitor posted the fastest time of 16m 17.56s, meaning that in order to medal this was the time to be beaten by the other three of this age group in heat nine.

This comprised (in order of seed time) of Clement (lane six), Laporte (three) and Veenstra (eight), all separated by only seven seconds.

With Veenstra having narrowly beaten Clement in the 500m freestyle, she was the new favourite for the 1,000m, setting the scene for a very competitive heat.

IISA rules do not permit dive starts, which risk cold water shock - instead competitors enter the water keeping one hand on the side of the pool and the other shoulder submerged.

Notwithstanding, the first length is still particularly challenging in the cold water and requires focus to control breathing and settle into a sustainable stroke, ready for another 950 metres.

Tumble turns are not permitted and distance underwater is limited to five metres to reduce cold water exposure.

Laporte allowed the others to set the pace and composed herself well. It soon appeared that, based on her success in the 500m, Veenstra’s plan was to stay with Clement.

But as the race progressed the strategy appeared to start breaking down and Clement set a dominating lead, while Laporte was mixing it with the Argentinian entry (from another age group) in the adjacent lane.

1,000 metres is a long way and circa 16 minutes is a long time in near-freezing water, therefore pacing is vital.

Laporte held strong in the closing stages, passing both the Argentinian and Veenstra in a dramatic finish to place third in her heat behind second-placed Jbrynn (also from another age group).

Crucially, Laporte beat Exteremera’s earlier time of 16:17.56 to claim a superb second place in her age group.

This secured her fifth silver medal at this distance, rounding off three British Championships, one European Championship and now the World Championship - a fantastic and well-deserved result.

- The next IISA World Championship is to be held in the French Alps in 2027.

NIGEL HENDY