The photo of 54-year-old Chai Shufen swimming in an almost frozen lake in Beiling Park in Shenyang city, the capital of northeast China's Liaoning province. (Photo/Official Weibo of People's Daily Online)

Chai Shufen, 54, lives in Shenyang city, the capital of northeast China's Liaoning province. The award-winning photo—featuring Chai dressed in a red swimsuit, swimming backstroke in an almost frozen lake—spread across social media and was included in the Reuters 2015 collection of best aerial photos.

Chai almost died in a traffic accident four years ago. After discovering that swimming was the best sport to support her recovery, she made up her mind to keep healthy by continuing to swim. Chai used to be afraid of water, but after only one month of swimming lessons, she learned the skill and became obsessed with winter swimming.

Chai wakes up at 5:00 a.m. every day and cooks a meal. Then she takes the subway to Beiling Park. She always walks one circle around the park and does a warm-up. Then she swims in the water for one hour, and finally runs a second circle around the park.

"After getting another chance at life, I thought that I needed to do some meaningful things. I forced myself to do sports and challenge myself with things I never tried before. People will do well if they just focus on the things they do. Doing sports brings me happiness and makes me healthier than before. I want to keep optimistic and live a happy life forever," said Chai.

Chai Shufen tells her story to the reporter. (Photo/Official Weibo of People's Daily Online)