{"id":35404,"date":"2023-03-04T21:14:16","date_gmt":"2023-03-05T04:14:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dhs-graduate-mooney-lang-swims-an-ice-mile\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:24:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:24:40","slug":"dhs-graduate-mooney-lang-swims-an-ice-mile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dhs-graduate-mooney-lang-swims-an-ice-mile\/","title":{"rendered":"DHS graduate Mooney Lang swims an \u2018ice mile\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Natalie
Natalie Mooney Lang, left, gets helped out of Pleasure Bay by Karen Nazor after swimming an \u201cice mile\u201d on Feb 19. (Courtesy).<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Natalie Mooney Lang, a 1995 Durango High School graduate, has completed some crazy swims in the last couple of years. She swam 21 miles across the English Channel from England to France. She also swam the Catalina Channel in the dark, which is 21 miles from Santa Catalina Island to the California mainland.<\/p>\n

Her most recent swim wasn\u2019t as long, but it was arguably the most painful. On Feb. 19, Lang basically did a polar plunge, except she did it for 34 minutes and 4 seconds while swimming a mile in the open water near Boston.<\/p>\n

Lang and two of her friends, Elaine Howley and Vera Ridard, swam an \u201cice mile\u201d in 39-degree water in Pleasure Bay. Howley had swam an ice mile before, but Lang and Ridard were just the 31st and 32nd American women recognized by the International Ice Swimming Association for accomplishing the feat. Worldwide, they were the 498th and 500th people recognized, with someone else\u2019s paperwork sneaking in between the two.<\/p>\n

\"Natalie
Natalie Mooney Lang swims an \u201cice mile\u201d on Feb. 19 in Boston\u2019s Pleasure Bay. For it to count as an ice mile, the water has to be 41 degrees or below, and wet suits aren\u2019t allowed. (Courtesy)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cIt was nice to have someone to suffer with,\u201d Lang said. \u201cIt\u2019s really easy to punk out after five minutes if you\u2019re by yourself \u2026 My teeth were chattering so hard (after the swim) I felt like I would chip a tooth so I tried to keep my jaw open.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the ice mile, they measured the length and put down two green buoys that they swam three laps around. The water also has to be 41 degrees Fahrenheit or colder, and wet suits aren\u2019t allowed. They also had to hire an EMT to keep them safe.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting in is always the hardest part,\u201d she said. \u201cFor me, I get in to about hip height and then dive in. Once I get my breathing regulated, and the headaches stop, I\u2019m OK. Your extremities, hands and feet, are the most painful, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once in, she said the buoys looked \u201cincredibly far\u201d so she looked for her husband, Gordan Lang, in his kayak.<\/p>\n

After the initial panic, she said she felt OK for a little while, but returning on the final stretch, she said she was ready to get out. Lang expected the mile to take her between 29 and 30 minutes, but she ended up swimming over a mile so it took her a few extra minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was following the curve of the beach so I swam more,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re that cold, you have to keep moving to stay warm. Your breath gets short and you want to get out. It\u2019s painful and uncomfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Lang got out of the water, she said she felt a little drunk, even though she was super aware. \u201cIt was kind of an out-of-body experience,\u201d she said. \u201cThe pain was so bad I wasn\u2019t fully present.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said about 20 minutes after getting out of cold water, your body will drop in temperature a second time, which can be dangerous.<\/p>\n

A few people helped her put some layers on because her hands didn\u2019t work. She dunked her hands in lukewarm water and then sat in a car with the heater cranked up while she shoved about 10 heat packs in her clothes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took a really long time to warm up, probably 30 minutes,\u201d she said, adding. \u201cI didn\u2019t realize I could do (the ice mile) until I made it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Training to swim in the cold water of the English Channel was the catalyst for Lang to try the ice mile. She said she had been doing cold-water swims year round for the last few years to prepare to swim across the channel. At first she didn\u2019t swim in water under 50 degrees, but she gradually started to. Since August, she has been swimming outside twice a week in every temperature. \u201cCan I do five minutes? Can I do 10 minutes,\u201d she described her thought process while progressing. \u201cI got to the point of acclimation. Your hands when you first start, your fingers separate so you can\u2019t swim. I started to realize it wasn\u2019t happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before attempting the ice mile, Lang had to do a 1-kilometer observed qualifying swim in the cold water. She also had to take an EKG test and get a medical clearance. The International Ice Swimming Association sets the rules and verifies the ice miles.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can get yourself in trouble so easy,\u201d she said. \u201cGetting out of the water after is the most dangerous, but there are so many present dangers.\u201d<\/p>\n

By swimming outdoors in the open water weekly since August to prepare, however, Lang\u2019s body was ready.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour body acclimates as the weather changes,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was really cool to do a science experiment on my own body and see how my limits changed, even week to week.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also trained in fresh water, which she said feels colder than salt water at the same temperature. Fresh water freezes at 32 degrees while salt water, because of the salt, doesn\u2019t freeze until it hits 28 degrees. She swam her ice mile in salt water.<\/p>\n

Now that she\u2019s completed an ice mile, she is torn whether she would try another one.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of me says absolutely not, but part of me wouldn\u2019t say I wouldn\u2019t go for it,\u201d Lang said. \u201cI did it once, I\u2019d be interested to see if I could do it faster. It was a manageable commitment to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also said she might just do some non-swim related travel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI trained for the Channel for five years, six days a week,\u201d she said. \u201cIt will be nice to take a break.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lang\u2019s parents, Sue and Jim Mooney, still live in Durango.<\/p>\n

\"Natalie
Natalie Mooney Lang swims an \u201cice mile\u201d on Feb. 19 in Boston\u2019s Pleasure Bay. For it to count as an ice mile, the water has to be 41 degrees or below, and wet suits aren\u2019t allowed. (Courtesy)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

39-degree water for over 34 minutes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35405,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,514],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-35404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-swimming"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35404"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82968,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35404\/revisions\/82968"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35404"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=35404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}