With slow movements I approach the ice hole in front of me, taking in slow deep breaths as I begin to regulate my heart rate. When your body goes into cold shock, panic hits almost immediately. That panic could kill me faster than the cold, so I need to stay calm. I crouch down, carefully sit on the edge of the ice, and submerge my feet. I continue to focus on my breathing as my body instinctively tries to gasp in air and yank my feet out of the water, and that’s just its response to my feet touching this frozen death trap.
I take a moment to close my eyes and breathe and tune out the sounds of the overenthusiastic crowd. As I feel my legs adjusting to the cold, I hold onto the edge of the ice hole and slowly begin submerging my body into the water. As the icy cold water hits my skin my h
