A RINGWOOD Town Council officer has been selected as one of only four swimmers to represent the UK in an international ice swimming competition.

Rory Fitzgerald, the responsible finance officer, will be heading to Murmansk where he will be one of 40 swimmers representing ten nations in the Russian Ice Swimming Championships. To qualify for the event contestants must prove they are able to swim 600m in water of six degrees or less.

He said: “It’s amusing to see people raise their eyebrows when I tell them what I am up to and most people just say ‘why?’.

“I enjoy the challenge of it and cold dips have long been considered healthy in many countries.”

In preparation for the event Rory has been spending up to 30 minutes swimming in the River Avon and will be heading for Snowdonia later this month. A 25m pool will be cut in the ice of Lake Semenovskoye as the venue for the competition and Rory plans to stay an extra few days to take part in the championships.

Rory was previously presented with a trophy by the town council for completing a Channel swim.