Armidale's Peta Bradley to swim the English Channel.

Peta Bradley is a member of the Australian ice swimming team that recently competed at the World Ice Swimming Championships in France.

She competed in the 1000m freestyle, 500m freestyle and 50m butterfly bringing home a bronze medal in the 500m. She placed 9th overall and set an Australian record by placing fourth in her age group in the

In Other News:

Peta is the manager of sheep genetics within the livestock team at Meat and Livestock Australia and has been living in Armidale since 2014 when she moved from Gilgandra in west NSW to study a bachelor of Rural Science at the UNE.

"I have always enjoyed swimming and competing growing up. When I moved to Armidale, I became aware of a strong local adults swimming group and throughout Covid when the pools all closed a group of us took notice of a swimmer who was swimming in a dam in the middle of winter, I decided to join in and have been 'ice swimming' ever since.

The fact that Peta only began swimming outside in freezing conditions as an alternative to her regular routine and a few years later is competing on the world stage is perhaps a testament to her ultra-competitive spirit and personality.

In September 2022, Bradley competed in the sports pillar, the "ice mile" at Thredbo, NSW, a challenge that involves swimming one mile in water colder than 5 degrees.

"When we were swimming in the dam, in the morning before work, we realised that the kinds of times we were swimming were qualifying times for the ice mile event."

Peta attended the World Championship in France in January, and her success there spurred her on to greater challenges, including the English Channel.

The Channel Swim between England and France in the Atlantic Ocean is a 34km swim and Peta estimates it will take her relay team of six between 12 and 13 hours to complete.

The relay team is made up of Peta, Brendan Cullen who has completed the swim solo, Ben Clavel from Broken Hill, Claire Atkins and two other swimmers from Adelaide.

As it is a relay event, one swimmer is to be in the water for an hour at a time. Once the swimmer is in the water, they have to stay in the allocated time otherwise there is a risk of disqualification.

The team and swim has been registered with the English Channel Swimming Association and if the swim is successful it will be ratified.

Peta says she is in great company.

Brendan Cullen has completed the English Channel swim solo before, and coach Mike Gregory was inducted into the Australian Open Water Hall of Fame.

"They are two accomplished swimmers and I feel very proud being able to share this experience with them," she said.

Peta's long-time coach and local swimming instructor James Harwood says the channel is a mighty challenge but he has no doubts Peta is up to it.

"Peta is tough, she is mentally tough and this is a great challenge for her.

She is the kind of person who is always looking for new challenges, if she hasn't got any on her radar, she will invent them.

She is a true competitor, always the first to arrive at training and the last to leave.

This will be a great test for her and will allow her to dip her toe in the water so to speak, and allow her to see if the channel is something she might like to try by herself."

James says although the swim is 34 kilometres, by the time you factor in conditions and swirling currents, it's more like a 40 to 50-kilometre swim.

"It is certainly not without its dangers and Peta and I spent a good deal of time discussing how she would prepare for things like swimming at night, dealing with currents, feeding, and recovering between swims, there is a high volume of traffic to contend with also but they have a great team and I'm sure it will be an amazing success."

Peta has decided to support the charity 'Soldier On' which supports returned services and their families and she says it was a charity she was exposed to through the Armidale Blues rugby and netball clubs.

Once she arrives home, Peta says some downtime might be on the cards.

"I'm actually looking forward to not having anything to prepare for, although maybe don't quote me on that," she says with a laugh.

"When I get back home, most likely I'll be straight back in the pool, or the dam getting ready for the next one."

Make sure you are signed up for our breaking news and regular newsletters