A Co Down teenager has broken four British swimming records at an international-level championship, coming away from the competition with a raft of medals including gold and silver.
Jessika Robson (19), from Annhilt, was competing in Italy last week at the IISA 6th Ice Swimming World Championship.
Representing Team GB, she secured three silver medals and one gold medal in her age group alongside a silver and two bronze awards in the overall world category.
The teenager competed in several races across the week, culminating in a final 1km swim on Friday.
Jessika Robson holding a chunk of ice prior to ice swimming in Italy
In a social media post following the end of the competition, Jessika described the experience as “wonderful” and “incredible”.
“I am so utterly grateful to have had this experience, one I’ll never forget,” she wrote.
“I loved my swims and was so pleased and proud of the results.
“Thank you so, so, so, so much to everyone who made this week happen!
“The atmosphere was out of this world.
“The camaraderie and support between all the swimmers from all over the world was just so perfect.”
Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph while she was competing in Molveno, Jessika said she was thrilled with her time in Italy.
“I actually don’t think it has hit me yet. I just do the swimming and then everyone comes up to me after to tell me how it went,” she joked.
“I just love the atmosphere of it. It’s so great and I get on well with everyone here.”
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Jessika’s mum Kelly, nan Sue and coach Dorothy are all among the swimmer’s very excited and encouraging support base.
“They love it. They’re my biggest fans,” Jessika explained.
The teenager has been swimming for as long as she can remember and now trains for 15 hours per week.
“I’ve pretty much been pool swimming my entire life, and then I started open water swimming in 2020, and then I started ice swimming properly last year.
“I really love open water swimming — and ice swimming allows me to do it all year round,” Jessika said.
Ice swimming takes place in water colder than 5C, and Jessika competed in temperatures around 1.8C to win her medals.
“You don’t really feel it the same, because the air temperature here is already really cold,” she explained, “but you can’t just jump into it; you have to acclimate yourself to the cold.
“I train in Lough Neagh, so it has gotten me used to it.
When Jessika isn’t swimming, she is instead working hard on her A-levels: “I’m quite lucky because this week is my mock week. But I don’t have any mocks — mine are coursework based, so it worked out well.
Jessika Robson with one of her silver medals won at at Molveno 2025: IISA 6th Ice Swimming World Championship
After school, Jessika is hoping to focus on sport, saying: “University is the next big thing for me. I want to go to Ulster and do sport.
Given her life as an athlete, though, Jessika admitted that juggling swimming and coursework can be hard.
“Sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming, but I think that’s just me being dramatic. Because I’ll put something off and worry about it, but then it actually only ends up taking five minutes,” she joked.
“[When you’ve] been swimming for so long, you sort of get used to it being a part of your schedule.”
Jessika has taken her passion to the next level and now coaches young swimmers at her Lisburn Swimming Club.
She said: “I think there is a lot of interest in it — because our club is always at full capacity. It’s good to see so many people enjoying it.”