Hampshire woman fights ice cold water and freezing temperatures every day in January for charity

• Sam Goodrum is swimming or dipping into ice cold water every day this January.

A woman from Hampshire has been spending January tackling the winter head on.

Sam Goodrum challenged herself to swim or dip into ice cold water every day of the month to raise money for a local youth charity. She has smashed her £100 goal, raising almost £500.

Open water becomes 'cold water swimming' when the temperature of the water drops below 10 °C, which began in October. It is classified as ice swimming when the water drops to 6 °C.

She said: "I decided in October I was going to swim every day through the winter in skins, wearing a bathing suit, rather than a wetsuit. I don't wear gloves or boots, so all my extremities take a bashing. Recovery is also a little bit harder without a wetsuit, so it's making the challenge more demanding.

"Cold water swimming has boosted my health and gives me a massive buzz of adrenaline, it makes me feel truly alive and it's perked up my own mental health. To be honest, despite the freezing cold, I'm loving every second of it. I chose to ice-dip through January because it's the longest month, it's the coldest month and I knew it would pep me up and give me something to focus on."