Laura was a Hardy competitor to win medals at European Ice Swimming Championships, Amy encountered extreme conditions at World event
PACTRAC star Laura Hardy won age group silver and bronze medals at the Ice Swimming European Championships in Molveno, Italy.
Swimmers from 35 different countries took part in various disciplines in the 50-metre pool at a temperature of just 2.8 degrees.
In the 500m Freestyle, Hardy was five seconds down after the first 100 metres, but then held on to finish just nine seconds adrift of the winner to claim a splendid silver.
Hardy then came within two seconds of taking a second silver in the 25pm event, but had to settle for bronze after a closely fought contest. After 150 metres she was 0.2 seconds behind the silver medalist, but saw this gap extend to 1.8 seconds by the finish.
Hardy won two silver medals in the same events in the GB Championships in December.
Fellow PACTRACER Amy Mellor went to The International Winter Swimming Association World Championships in Oulu, Finland. She swam in four events plus a relay over four days in water around -0.2 degrees - her coldest ever swims by a long way.
The organisers had to break the ice to create a special 25-metre swimming pool for nearly 1,800 swimmers from 50 countries.
Amy was the first British swimmer in her age group in all of her events, which she described as being ‘a shock to the system.’
The post-race celebrations were interrupted with a display from the Northern Lights.