English Channel swim challenge prep for Singaporean: 10kg weight gain, and ice baths to face the cold
- Li Ling Yung-Hryniewiecki will raise funds for expansion into Singapore of Hong Kong charity Splash, which gives free swimming lessons
- A successful crossing of the 33.7km stretch of water between England and France would make her the first Singaporean woman to achieve the feat
For the past several months, Li Ling Yung-Hryniewiecki has engaged in a peculiar bath-time routine. She fills her bath with cold water and ice to reach a temperature of 13 to 15 degrees Celsius (55 to 59 degrees Fahrenheit), and instead of having wine or reading a book, she will put on YouTube and, quite literally, chill out.
That’s part of the preparation for her next big swim, in which she will attempt to become the first Singaporean woman to swim the 33.7 kilometres (21 miles) across the English Channel – the stretch of water between England and France.
This will be no simple feat – more people have climbed Mount Everest than have swum across the Channel.
Yung-Hryniewiecki, 37, works in risk management. She hails from Singapore, and lived in the United Kingdom for 15 years before moving to Hong Kong in 2019 for work.
She started swimming at around four years of age, stopped around the age of 10, and only resumed about 10 years ago.