Nomination: Leon Fryer

Leon became the 64th ice miler on 30th November 2013

He has since devoted his career to supporting swimmers. Leon and his team at Swimyourswim have supported over 100 successful ice mile swims over the years, mainly at Hatfield outdoor activity centre. He continues to support IISA GB, where he is currently the country chair, but has been part of the board in different capacities in the past as well.

Leon organises a winter swim camp yearly in Scotland and in 2024, organised the inaugural "really cold swimming championships" at Rother Valley country park, England. 

Leon is currently working closely with the Safety Training Awards (STA) to roll out a cold water swimming CPD course for open water swim coaches. He was also involved in the development and still delivers the STA L2 open water safety and L2 open water swim coach courses. 

Please see below link for the swimyourswim website. Leon is the co-founder and head coach for swimyourswim. The website details all events and courses organised by Leon.

www.swimyourswim.com

I am a swimmer and volunteer at swimyourswim. Leon is my swim coach. I see the work and passion he puts into providing a safe space for swimmers to push themselves and believe he deserves recognition for his efforts.

Belgian swimmer living in the UK. So far, I have completed an end to end swim of Lake Windermere and I am currently training to swim Loch Awe end to end. 

I have been a swim teacher for 6 years and pool lifeguard for 5. I became involved in ice swimming through my volunteering work with swimyourswim. Once properly acclimatised, I hope to become the 3rd Belgian ice miler in history!