Rook swoops for Arctic charity plunge

Suzy Rook, 37, won 13 Scotland caps in the front row between 2011 and 2013 and for the last five years, post the Covid pandemic, cold water swimming has played an active part in both her physical and mental wellbeing.

Suzy, a mother of three from Crossmichael near Castle Douglas in Dumfries and Galloway, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer last year.

“Happily, I’m all clear at the moment and I wanted to give back to two charities who have meant so much to me,” she explained.

The charities are the Butterfly Thyroid Cancer Trust and Back Onside, supporting mental health.

In her formative playing days and pre-marriage, Suzy McKerlie-Hex, represented the Kirkcaldy, Dundee Morgan and Murrayfield Wanderers clubs, while she studied forensic criminology at university in Dundee.

“Unlike other players, I always found ice baths a positive experience, so daily cold-water swimming is very much part of my routine.

“I have remained really active and sporty and I’m still playing club rugby now, 20 years after I got the rugby bug.

“I had my first game back in January after getting the cancer all clear, with 50 minutes for Stewartry Sirens against West of Scotland. Even managed to get in a few boshes!

“Rugby saved me and has saved me for the last 20 years.  It gives me a positive structure and scaffold around me.  Being part of a team and community matters.”

So, come 7-11 June, she will travel to Svalbard in Norway, one of the closest, permanent inhabited, human-settled places to the North Pole, to undertake a swim of either a mile or kilometre to raise funds for her nominated charities.

Suzy, a social worker, specialising in through-care for high risk offenders, and Scotland’s Social Worker of the Year in 2022, contends that sport, especially rugby, can be a route to a better life.

“However, you find your sport or gym, get into it, give it a go and I know from my own experience that the support builds around you, “ she said.

You can support Suzy’s inspiring endeavours via her Just Giving page: https://tinyurl.com/y6r46zdy