What were you doing at 6:45 a.m.? For most of us, the answer falls into two neat categories: "sleeping" and "wanting to still be asleep." But for Hélène Guillaume, founder and CEO of WILD.AI, an app that uses data and physiology to help female athletes train based on their menstrual cycles, the day began with a bracing dip in the ice-cold Serpentine lake in London's Hyde Park.
In a short film supporting the adidas and iFundWomen initiative, which provides mentorship and grants to women reimagining athletics, Guillaume likens ice swimming to running a company, because "[you're] basically getting slapped in the face five, 10 times a day." But just as she braves the frigid water (and 15-degree air), Guillaume is taking on gender bias in sports science as a business leader. "The knowledge until now on training, fuelling, and recovering has been based on male research," she says. "Women are not men. Our bodies are completely different and heavily impacted by our menstrual cycles."
To learn more about the initiative, how Guillaume built WILD.AI, and how her work helps women recognise how powerful they are, watch here.