He lowered his head into the water before turning his arms over and kicking. His breathing now more under control he edged slowly back toward Freyberg Beach.
Once on land, it took too long to get dressed.
“I’d done a long cold water swim the day before and it was too soon to go again. I think I was starting to feel the effects of hypothermia.”
That scare taught him a lesson that now shapes his preparation for what will be the coldest swim of his life.
This month, from July 10 to 13, Jones (Ngāti Kahungunu, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, Ngā Rauru) will compete in his first official ice swim at the 2025 Open Water Ice Swimming Championships in Blue Lake, St Bathans, in Otago.
Blue Lake at St Bathans in Central Otago.
He’s entering the 500m and 1km freestyle. If those go well and there’s time, he might swim an ice mile too.
Ice swimming is brutal. It means plunging into water 5°C or colder, swimming unassisted in just a cap, goggles, and togs.
The risks are extreme: cold shock, hypothermia, and the elusive afterdrop, a phenomenon where your core temperature continues to fall even after you exit the water.
At the event, each individual swimmer is accompanied by an IRB with a lifeguard and medic.
Onshore are recovery tents packed with heaters, blankets, and emergency personnel.
You don’t take ice swimming lightly, says Jones.
He has spent months training and acclimatising to how July’s ice swim will affect him.
As well as taking your breath away, cold water affects the swimmer’s head.
“For me, I feel the brain freeze and then it slowly works its way around,” shares Jones. “It gets tight at the back of your head and it’s like someone is pulling your hair.”
Medical clearance is mandatory.
So is mental toughness.
Of the 60 swimmers entered, only a handful are men.
“No surprises there,” quips Jones.
But this isn’t some mid-life whim. Jones, a Fish and Game field officer, has been building toward this for years. He swims year-round in the Pacific Ocean off Hardinge Road.
He and a hardy crew of locals regularly churn through 2 to 5km morning swims, rain or shine, moonlight or sunlight.
“I swim for personal reasons. For health, mental clarity, it keeps your head in a good space.”
Hawke's Bay wild water swimmer Davey Jones is taking one of his biggest challenges, an ice swim. Photo / Florence Charvin
But the Pacific’s winter waters — hovering around 12°C right now — aren’t cold enough for ice swim training.
So, Jones has sought out the North Island’s chilliest corners: Maraetotara Falls, Lake Rototuna in the Kaweka Forest Park, and mountain-fed rivers flowing into Lake Taupō.
While an average local swimming pool keeps its water around 27°C, these waters have been 7-9°C.
One misty evening at Lake Rototuna, he had a “perfect swim.”
“There’s a moment where it feels like walking on the moon.”
It felt so good he didn’t want to get out. But he remembers Wellington: “Don’t get carried away. Get out. Practice your recovery.”
The science is sobering. Cold shock can kill within seconds.
In water below 10°C, hypothermia can develop in minutes. The body loses heat 20–30 times faster in water than in air. And just because you’ve made it out doesn’t mean you’re safe.
Afterdrop is a delayed danger. When the cold blood from your limbs recirculates to your core, your body temperature can plummet even further causing faintness, nausea, shivering, or unconsciousness.
Jones has a meticulous exit routine: stepping onto a mat of hot-water-soaked sponges, pulling on clothes that have been warmed around a hot water bottle.
“There’s nothing better than putting on warm underwear when you’re cold,” he laughs.
His partner, ultra-distance runner Debbie Rodgers, is his support crew.
She helps him dress, feeds him sugar-rich snacks, and watches for signs he’s coping.
“He’s definitely acclimatising. He shakes less, looks less uncomfortable, and doesn’t take as long to warm up. If he’s bossing me around, I know he’s fine.”
Jones is preparing this week with swims in Lakes Wakatipu and Tekapō.
He will then head to the mineral-rich waters of Blue Lake, near St Bathans, for the ultimate ice-cold test.
