Kate Steels is a 53-year-old British winter swimmer, ice swimmer and open water swimmer from Southampton, England.
Administration & Honors She is an Honor Swimmer in the Class of 2020 of the Ice Swimming Hall of Fame. She is the Chairperson of the International Ice Swimming Association Great Britain. She serves as the secretary and a member of the board of directors of the International Ice Swimming Association. She was the third person in history to complete the Ice Sevens Challenge on 22 November 2021. She completed the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming on 1 August 2022.
Open Water Swimming Highlights She achieved the Frosted Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming on 1 August 2022. On 13 November 2022, she became the first person to complete a 14.4 km circumnavigation swim around Isla Coronado in Mexico finishing in 4 hours 1 minute with Borut Strel as her observer and Captain Chopis as her escort pilot. She works as a swim guide for Strel Holidays in Mexico and elsewhere. On 10 September 2022, she completed a 14-mile J2F Jersey to France crossing, escorted by Matthew Clarke. On 1 August 2022, she completed a 32.3 km crossing of the Catalina Channel between Santa Catalina Island and the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Southern California in 12 hours 12 minutes 59 seconds to complete the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming at the age of 52. On 25 June 2022, she completed the 40 km Tricule Fortress – Port of Orsova swim, partly in the Cerna and the river Danube, in 10 hours 16 minutes. On 10 August 2014, she finished third in the women’s veteran division in the 26.4 km Lake Zurich Marathon Swim in Switzerland in 9 hours 11 minutes 26 seconds at the age of 44. On 20 March 2015, she won and set an 45-49 age group world record in the Ice Kilometer in Lake Semenovskoye, Murmansk, Russia at the 1st International Ice Swimming Association World Championships in 19 minutes 30 seconds. In 2016, she competed at the Pirita Open in the 450m freestyle in Estonia. She finished 2nd in the 2016 25 km River Elbe Swim in the Czech Republic. On 6 September 2016, she swam across the English Channel from England to France in 13 hours 5 minutes under the guidance of escort pilot Stuart Gleeson and auspices of the Channel Swimming Association at the age of 46. In March 2016, she participated in the Ice Swimming Expedition in northern Norway where she completed a Polar Ice Mile. She was named to the World’s 50 Most Adventurous Open Water Women in 2017, 2018 and 2019 by the World Open Water Swimming Association. She is one of the speakers of the 2016 Global Open Water Swimming Conference in Tunis, Tunisia. On 6 August 2011, she was part of the Aspire Sharks English Channel Relay from England to France. She finished 28th in the ice kilometer at the 2016 Ice Swimming Aqua Sphere World Championships in Burghausen, Bavaria, Germany. She finished 4th in the 45.9 km 20 Bridges Manhattan Island Swim around New York City in 6 hours 29 minutes 45 seconds at the age of 50. She finished 4rd in the 25 km Gaston Memorial Swim on the river Elbe in the Czech Republic in August 2016 in 4 hours 45 minutes. She competed in the Ice Kilometer at the 3rd International Ice Swimming Association World Championship held in Murmansk, Russia in March 2019. She completed a Polar Ice Mile at 60° 4′ 12.412 N 19° 1′ 55.2496 E around in Mikkelvik Brygge, Skagøysund, Norway in 2.5°C water on 8 March 2019. She finished 4th in the 500m freestyle at the IISA 3rd World Championship in Murmansk, Russia in March 2019. She finished 7th in the 1000m Ice Kilometer at the IISA 3rd World Championship in Murmansk, Russia in March 2019. She completed 8 Ice Miles and 9 Ice Kilometers to date. 1st on 31 January 2015 in Andark Lake, Bursledon, Southampton, she completed an Ice Mile in 3.90°C water, -1.0°C wind chill and 5.0°C air temperature, swimming 1.03 miles in 32 minutes 50 seconds in a freshwater lake. 2nd on 3 December 2016 in Andark Lake, Bursledon, Southampton, she completed an Ice Mile in 4.80°C water, 2.2°C wind chill, and 5.50°C air temperature, swimming 1.0 miles in 31 minutes 38 seconds in a pool carved inside a small lake. 3rd on 4 March 2017 in Mikkelvik Brygge, Norway, she completed an Ice Mile in 2.37°C water, -7.3°C wind chill, and -5.0°C air temperature, swimming 1.06 miles in 33 minutes 16 seconds in a fjord. 4th on 15 December 2017 in Lac Aguelmame Sidi Ali, Atlas Mountains in Morocco, she completed an Ice Mile in 3.83°C water, -2.0°C wind chill, and 3.6°C air temperature, swimming 1.13 miles in 35 minutes 0 seconds in a mountain lake at 2,100m altitude. 5th on 24 December 2017 in South Lake, Shuangyashan City, China, she completed an Ice Mile in 0.90°C water, -22.1°C wind chill, and -12.6°C air temperature, swimming 1.01 miles in 35 minutes 5 seconds in a pool cut out of frozen lake. 6th on 3 March 2018 in Lee-On-Solent, Hampshire, UK, she completed an Ice Mile in 3.07°C water, 0.20°C wind chill, and 5.0°C air temperature, swimming 1.06 miles in 33 minutes 4 seconds in the sea. 7th on 21 April 2019 in Lake Simcoe, Beaverton, Canada, she completed an Ice Swim in 4.13°C water, swimming 1.00 miles in 31 minutes 42 seconds. 8th on 31 August 2019 in Lake Lyndon, New Zealand, she completed an Ice Swim in 3.93°C water, swimming 1.05 miles in 31 minutes 57 seconds. She competed in the Ice Kilometer at the Amstel Ice Swim in the Netherlands held on 29-30 December 2019. She finished 2nd in the 500m freestyle in the 2020 IISA World Cup Series. On 31 October 2020, she won the Ice Kilometer in the 50 – 54 age group at the 2020 International Winter Swimming Association in Bled in 16 minutes 53.90 seconds.