TOP-flight winter swimmers left their wetsuits at home and plunged into Windermere's icy waters during the prestigious Big Chill Swim gala.

More than 1,000 competitors flew in from as far afield as Russia, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, the USA and Mexico to brave England's largest lake, a bitterly cold 6°C.

With an estimated 2,000 supporters and spectators booking up hotel rooms, B&Bs and restaurants, the international weekend-long event has been hailed as a welcome boost for the Lake District economy, during what is traditionally the year's quietest weekend.

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Organiser Colin Hill, director of open-water swimming company Chillswim, based at Howtown, near Pooley Bridge, said: "It's incredible. It started off with 200 people and now over 1,000 people are taking part."

The gala is now classed as an official fixture in the Winter Swimming World Cup 2016 and is viewed with prestige by elite swimmers.

The weekend opened with Friday night's World Open Water Swimming Association awards, where the guest speaker was United Nations Patron of the Oceans Lewis Pugh, himself an accomplished, extreme ice swimmer.

Colin, who was technical operations manager for marathon swimming at the London 2012 Olympics, described Low Wood Bay Resort Hotel and Marina as the perfect location and praised the support given by its owners, the Berry family.

Stormy weather had hampered preparations, explained Colin, who spent days in thermals and waterproofs watching the lashing waves and thinking: "How on earth are we going to put this on?"

A large, temporary floating pontoon had to be brought in, and Colin said: "The last thing we wanted to do was cancel. We really wanted to get the message out that Cumbria is open."

A wet and windy Saturday failed to dampen spirits - "We had all the Lakes could throw at us" - and the day's races concluded with relays, when swimmers traditionally sport fancy dress, such as sharks and Wizard of Oz characters Dorothy, the lion and the tin man. Commentator Ben Berry also dressed as a polar bear.

Sunday's highlight was the British 1km Cold Water Swimming Championships, won by Christof Wandratsch, of Germany, who previously held the world record for swimming the English Channel.

Described as "a very serious event" by Colin, the 1km championship is open to experienced swimmers only, with entry dependent on ECG and blood pressure tests.

"There's more and more people now doing winter swimming," said Colin. "It's all about conditioning yourself. You don't go leaping into freezing cold water; you train everyday throughout the winter. You have to have common sense."

Colin said the Russian competitors came expecting snow, and that the Lake District scenery had impressed all swimmers.

"A lot of these events are held in lidos or on ice, where you cut a pool. To have the event take place on such a beautiful lake, it really does take people's breath away."

Five hot tubs, a sauna and heated marquees were laid on so that participants could warm up between events, including 60m and 120m freestyle, 30m breaststroke, 4 x 30m relay and 450m endurance.

- For more pictures, see the gallery at www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk