Making ripples: Launching into Lake Whakatipu on Sunday, for the 226th day in a row, are, from left, Queenstowners Paddy Turnhout, Brett Sheehan, Chris Walker and Chaz Monaghan

Some might think they’re bonkers.

Today marks the 231st consecutive day a group of four Queenstowners have jumped into the bitter depths of Lake Whakatipu — or a suitable substitute.

The mission, dubbed ‘The Ripple Effect’, sees Paddy Turnhout, Brett Sheehan, Chris Walker and Chaz Monaghan immerse themselves in the lake every day for a full calendar year, ending on New Year’s Eve.

It follows last year’s ice bath challenge, in which Turnhout and a group of mates spent a total of 276 minutes in an ice bath, starting with 60 seconds on March 1, increasing the time by a minute every day till they reached Turnhout’s 23rd birthday, on March 23.

During that challenge, they simultaneously raised money for the I Am Hope charity.

Monaghan, who founded OC Health Clubs and is a personal trainer there with Turnhout, says they came up with the idea for The Ripple Effect after brainstorming ways to improve that effort.

While he says Lake Whakatipu’s not nearly as cold as the ice water — the water temp’s been measured at the Hilton to be consistently between 10 and 12 degrees — the time commitment, up to 20 minutes a day, is larger.

‘‘We’ve found that 20 minutes is the sweet spot … anything more than that and the body starts to convulse.’’

And it doesn’t matter whether it’s raining, snowing or freezing, what they’re dealing with personally, or the hour, the daily dip’s non-negotiable — though ‘‘a couple of the boys don’t like eels, so they definitely don’t go at night-time’’.

Ready for their daily dip: From left, Queenstowners Brett Sheehan, Chaz Monaghan, Paddy Turnhout and Chris Walker, who are on a year-long cold water immersion mission

Monaghan says if any of them aren’t in Queenstown for the day, ‘‘we find the coldest natural body of water we can … to stay true [to] our commitment’’.

Cold-water immersion’s said to have major health benefits, including improving energy and helping with well-balanced mental health.

The group’s hoping to inspire other Queenstowners to commit to a ‘‘small daily act’’ towards improving their own mental and physical health.

‘‘The goal would be for them to do something small on their own, but in their own way — it’s not necessarily jumping in the lake, it could be meditation, it could be exercise, going for a walk, breathing, whatever they feel like is going to help them, just that small daily time for themselves,’’ Monaghan says.

That stems from OC Health Clubs’ belief ‘‘confidence comes from keeping the promises we make to ourselves’’.

‘‘So every day we ‘make a ripple’, especially when we don’t feel like it, it reinforces our ability to keep our word.

‘‘Often the lake acts as a reflection of our minds, occasionally stormy and turbulent, other times calm and peaceful — no matter how rough it is, though, if we relax and go deep enough, it’s always quiet.’’

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