Harrogate’s Millie Bell is addicted to swimming.

The 24-year-old open water swimmer has represented Great Britain at major competitions and now has her sights set on bigger achievements.

Next year, she will take on the English Channel – one of the major endurance tests for swimmers which spans 21 miles.

For Millie, the feat will be a big task, but it is also one that she feels she needs to do.

Starting out

Millie did not start out as an open water swimmer.

Instead, she used to run triathlon while studying at the University of York.

But, soon she was bitten by the swimming bug and never looked back.

The move was organic rather than by design. In 2018, the 24-year-old went to a beginners course at Blue Lagoon in Pontefract to test the waters.

She soon found the open water swimming addictive.

“I was pretty scared when I got in, but I soon got used to it.

“That was the start of everything. I fell in love with open water swimming, the community and everything that came with it.”

Millie swimming from Jersey to France as part of her English Channel training.

Races in open water swimming can range from one mile to marathon lengths of 10 miles.

The competitions are feats of endurance which test the patience and stamina of those who participate.

Millie competes in marathon races and her biggest feat has been Windermere Lake, which stretches for 10 miles and took her five hours to complete.

When asked why the lengths are so enticing for her, Millie said it boils down to her urge to test herself and push her body to the limit.

“I’ve always wanted to challenge myself and see what I’m capable of.”

Winning bronze

Millie’s development as a swimmer has been dramatic.

In January this year, she competed with Great Britain at the World Ice Swimming Championships in the French Alps.

She won a bronze medal in each of her three events.

“Going into it, I didn’t think I stood a chance of getting a medal. 

“I swam my first race and I was really happy with my time. When I saw my results and that I’ve got a bronze, I was really quite emotional. I never thought that I would get to compete internationally, never mind get a podium.”

But, for Millie, the next challenge was always around the corner.

In fact, the set piece event is in August 2024 when she will take on the English Channel.

Taking on the channel

The idea to swim the channel has always been there for Millie.

She describes it as an “itch”, but did not fully explore the idea until 2021.

“I remember one day I bought this book about it. I was reading this book and it was about this crazy woman who swam through winter and swam for hours upon hours on end.

“I read a chapter of it and I went: ‘No, that’s crazy. I’m not doing that.’

“A couple of months later, I was looking on Facebook and there was this channel relay looking for people to join. I applied and thought that I wouldn’t get on. But then I got on and it started from there.”

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Millie completed the channel relay, which sees swimmers compete in a team and swim for an hour at a time on the English Channel.

But she realised that she wanted to take on the full swim solo.

Last month, she went to Jersey as part of her training which saw her swim from the island to France which is 14 miles and took her seven hours and 22 minutes to finish.

“The distance for me was not too much of a problem. I knew I was capable of doing it because I had swam Windermere a couple of times and that’s 10 and a half miles.”

Millie swimming the channel relay in 2021.

The build up to the swim will test Millie’s body, but also her mind.

Much like other athletes who compete at the highest level, Millie has been working with a sports psychologist to help get her in correct mental state to swim the channel.

“For me, I doubt myself quite a lot.

“Sometimes when you get in the middle of a swim and you’re in the middle of the sea, you start to doubt yourself and you start to panic.

“He [the psychologist] helps me with ways to keep my focus. It’s really important is the mental side. It’s only this year that I have started to realise how important it is.”

She added that the mind can also wander during extended hours of swimming, including being bored.

“When you’re swimming for six or seven hours, what do you think about?

“If I can get my brain so that it doesn’t think about anything then that is absolutely perfect. But when you’re bored, you start to think about everything don’t you? You start to think: ‘Did I say this wrong earlier in the week?’

“Being bored makes me really anxious. Some people get really bored and just want to get out. So boredom can be a bit of an issue. But, for me, panicking is more of an issue.”

The list of channel swimmers stretches back as far as 1875, when Matthew Webb, an English swimmer and stuntman, became the first recorded person to complete it.

In 10 months time, Millie could join that list.

For her, completing the task would be an itch she could finally scratch. 

“It’s probably one of the biggest things that I will do in my life.”

If you have any local sporting heroes who you think should be featured in Sporting Spotlight, contact calvin@thestrayferret.co.uk.

A group of ice swimmers from across the Harrogate district has come back with top results from the world championships.

Millie Bell, 23, won bronze medals in each of her three events at the World Ice Swimming Championships in the French Alps.

She took part in the 250m, 100m and 50m swims in the 18-24 age group, coming third in each.

She said:

“I wasn’t expecting to get anything. The girls in my age group were pretty fast and experienced.

“I had gone back to the hotel room after one of the races and my friend called me to say I had to come back because I was meant to be on the podium!”

Millie said she had been supported in the competition by her employer, Vp plc in Harrogate. She is now back in training for marathon open water swims in the summer.

Meanwhile, Jacqui Hargrave, 51, came sixth and eighth in her events, which she said she was thrilled with.

She told the Stray Ferret:

“It was absolutely amazing. It was a faster pace than I could ever have imagined.

“I went in having never done this before, expecting not to do anything. To come out with that result was more than I could have hoped for.”

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Both Millie and Jacqui said the water was not as cold as they had thought it might be, measuring around 3.7C across the four days of competition.

Millie said:

“It definitely helped mentally knowing that I can swim in colder conditions. It was the perfect temperature for me – which is bonkers!”

Their fellow Harrogate district ice swimmers, Jonty Warneken and Emily Smailes, also performed well.

Jonty came fifth overall in the 100m freestyle para competition, winning his age category, and third overall in the 50m freestyle para category.

Emily, meanwhile, joined Jonty, Jacqui and Lara Fawcett in the Frozen Roses 50m relay, coming fourth against competition that included a four-time Olympian.

Team GB set 32 new age group world records during the championships, more than any other country taking part.

Jacqui said the experience of being in the team at the championships had given her a sense of achievement, even if she never returns.

She added:

“I’m going to do the GB trials next year, then we’ll see if I try for the world championships again.

“It’s getting so much more popular that the level to be able to compete is getting higher. I will give it everything I’ve got, but it might be too high for me.

“If it becomes a Winter Olympic sport, the level will be so much higher again.

“Being able to do it once is such an accomplishment. I’ve ticked a box and been able to do something not many people have done.”

A swimmer from Knaresborough is one of four locals warming up to represent their country at the world ice swimming championships this week.

Jacqui Hargrave – known as Open Water Woman – is part of a team of four from the Harrogate district competing in the event.

Millie Bell, Emily Smailes and Jonty Warneken will also be taking part in the contest from January 12 to 15 in the French Alps.

The team face water temperatures as low as 2C when they compete against 500 athletes from around the world.

Jacqui will be competing in the 50m and 100m categories and has been in training with the team in Doncaster. She said:

“There’s very strict rules. You can’t dive in head first because it’s so cold you could die.

“It can be dangerous.”

Her sprint race may only last a couple of minutes, but it is still important that Jacqui takes the cold seriously and warms back up gradually.

She uses a hot drink and hot water bottle to help her recover, before taking a warm shower about an hour later. She added:

“There is one person that is there for you, to put your clothes back on and take you inside to see the medical team.”

The team was given a major boost recently when adventurer and Chief Scout Bear Grylls, whose sister Lara is also in the squad, stopped by for a training session.

He posted about the experience on his Twitter account:

Great to swim today with some of the ice swimming GB team! What they’re doing takes courage and determination, and I’m so proud of my sister Lara who is swimming next month in the world ice championships – you’re going to smash it! pic.twitter.com/87K16vIc3E

— Bear Grylls OBE (@BearGrylls) December 27, 2022

Always a keen athlete, Jacqui only began open water swimming 12 years ago after problems with her hips preventing her from running.

She first tried swimming with her friend Andrea and said:

“That was it, we fell in love with it.”

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Wild swimming has become more popular in recent years among people who prefer swimming in rivers and lakes than inside buildings.

Knaresborough woman Miranda Newbery is among those who have taken up the sport. She started last year during lockdown and says feeling connected to nature whilst exercising gives a sense of freedom and changed her life.

Ms Newbery currently swims in the River Nidd with friends once or twice a week but says pollution levels have become an increasing concern.

Last summer she introduced her children to wild swimming. They later fell ill and although she cannot be sure it was due to pollution she has since bought them snorkel-like masks to wear.

Swimming with a friend in Ullswater

She said:

“It makes me nervous, of course I couldn’t prove it was because of the water but it gives us all so much pleasure I don’t want to stop the kids doing it.

“The river is key to Knaresborough and used by so many. It is something we should look after with our politicians working to protect it too.”

The state of rivers has been a hot topic since MPs voted last month against an amendment to stop water companies, such as Yorkshire Water, pumping raw sewage into British rivers.

Andrew Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough was among those who voted against the amendment. He later said he would support a new amendment to the Environment Bill that would reduce sewage in waterways.

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Failed pollution tests in Nidd

The Stray Ferret spoke to other local residents last week who echoed Ms Newbery’s views and called for action to reduce pollution in local rivers.

Jacqui Renton, from Knaresborough, who swims in the Nidd as part of her training for a British championships open water swimming competition, said the Nidd had failed water pollution tests and was “a potential health risk”.

Nevertheless the swimmers plan to keep plunging into the Nidd.

Ms Newbery says she’s shared laughter and heartbreak with other wild swimmers over the last year and encourages people to give it a go.

“There is something about the combination of the cold water and being in the beautiful natural surroundings that we are blessed with in Knaresborough that is truly restorative.”

“It’s a mindful practice and sharing that with friends is so special.”

Residents have said MPs voting against an amendment to stop raw sewage being pumped into rivers have created a “potential health risk” in the River Nidd.

Last week, MPs voted 268 to 204 against the Lords amendment, which means water companies such as Yorkshire Water can continue pumping raw sewage into British rivers.

Andrew Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough was among those voting against the amendment.

Last year, every section of the Nidd that runs through the Harrogate district failed water pollution tests due to wastewater contamination – including raw sewage.

The Nidd is used for recreation by families, swimmers and even competitors in Knaresborough Bed Race. Some have expressed disappointment at the MPs’ vote.

Jacqui Renton, from Knaresborough, who swims in the Nidd as part of her training for a British championships open water swimming competition, said:

“Last year the River Nidd failed water pollution tests due to the river being contaminated with wastewater. This included raw sewage, making swimming in it a potential health risk.

“More worryingly, raw sewage being discharged into our rivers of course has a bigger consequence for wildlife, threatening the biodiversity and ecosystem health, which is why urgent action is needed.”

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A section of the river in Knaresborough is also used by competitors in the annual bed race. Kevin Lloyd, chairman of the bed race committee, urged Yorkshire Water to stop pumping sewage into the river on the day of the event.

However, Mr Lloyd said more action was needed:

“Any initiative that protects the environment is a good thing so I am disappointed at this defeat.

“Yorkshire Water are sympathetic to the event and do what they can but there’s always more that can be done to protect the environment.”

Nidd a ‘huge leisure attraction’

Cllr Hannah Gostlow, a Liberal Democrat who represents Knaresborough Scriven Park on Harrogate Borough Council, also raised concerns as a councillor and local resident.

She said the Nidd was a “huge leisure attraction” used by paddle boarders and young children.

She added:

“The River Nidd is already polluted with wastewater, including with raw sewage, and failed recent pollution tests. The government should be stopping sewage going into our rivers full stop.”

The Stray Ferret contacted Mr Jones about the issue but he declined to reply.

However, he said on his Community News website that he would support a new amendment to the government’s Environment Bill providing a costed plan to reduce sewage in our waterways. He said:

“It would not be sensible to support such a complicated change without having a costed plan. This is what the Lords amendment lacked and why I did not support it.”

Two women from the Harrogate district are to swim the English Channel this weekend for charity.

Andrea Stark, from Harrogate, and Jacqui Hargrave, from Knaresborough, have been open water swimming together for seven years. But this will be the duo’s biggest challenge yet.

They are part of a four-person relay team in which each person will raise money for a different cause. Andrea is raising money for the mental health charity Samaritans. Jacqui is swimming for Harrogate-based Saint Michael’s Hospice, which supported her best friend in her final days.

The swim normally takes 15 hours and the rules state each person can only swim one hour before another member of the team takes over. The team has to tackle currents and find their way around shipping lanes – so the swim could be up to 30 miles long.

The team of four are set to embark on the English Channel Challenge on Friday.

Andrea, a nurse at Harrogate Hospital, said:

“We’re beginning to let ourselves get excited but it’s still all very dependent on the weather. We are definitely ready, we’ve done lots of training and swam at Whitby to get used to the current and the temperature.

“It’s taken us 7 years to build up to this. We love it so much and we prefer the open water and the feeling it gives – you’d be amazed at the positive impact it has on your mental health. Our families have been amazing too. There will be times when our bodies hurt but that’s when we’ll think of those charities and it’ll keep us going.”

To support Andrea, click here.

Jacqui, who writes an open water swimming blog, said:

“I am feeling more confident now, I really want to get it done – we all do! It’ll be invigorating and a challenge for us but we’ve done all the preparation and we’ve planned it all out.

“Under a quarter of people succeed but we are all very determined to accomplish this. Our driver is very experienced and understands the water so we’re in safe hands. It’s just about pushing ourselves against the harsh currents and of course the cold. The charities need their work promoting especially with all the uncertainty.”

To support Jacqui, click here.

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The women are due to enter the water on Friday morning but the weather could postpone it by a few days. Their swim has already been postponed once following lockdown.

Richard Powell, a deputy health centre manager from Chesterfield, and Leanne Davis, a paramedic from Rotherham, make up the rest of the relay team.