Plunging into a frozen lake and swimming laps might not be everyone’s good time, but for winter swimmers who return year after year to a northern Vermont lake near the Canadian border, there is nothing better.
The 10th annual Memphremagog Winter Swimming Festival began on Thursday and on Friday morning some of the 180 participants swam a lap wearing a decorated hat. Later on Friday was the 200m freestyle race in a narrow pool cut from the ice.
“It was amazing. It’s the highlight of my year,” said Andie Nelson, of Arlington, Virginia, after swimming 25m in the hat competition. “It makes me happy.”
Photo: AP
She planned to compete in all of the events over the three days and said it was more about the people and comradery than the icy water.
Ted Hirsch, 63, of Boston, and Ed Gabriels, 62, of Germantown, New York, have been competing against each other for about seven years This year, Gabriels beat Hirsh in the 200m freestyle.
A group of women from Canton, Ohio, called the Buckeye Bluetits range in age from 40 to about 80 years old and returned for their fourth year. They swim year-round at Meyers Lake at home, but would not miss the chance to swim in Vermont in what organizers say is some of the coldest winter swimming in the world.
“It’s the vibe. We have so much fun here and we’re amongst friends,” Margaret Gadzic said.
Winter and ice swimming is defined as swimming in water at 5°C or below, organizers said.
“Our water temperature is 30.5 degrees Fahrenheit [negative-0.8°C]. It’s microscopic slushy. We call it ‘totally cold’ and it is the coldest — some of the coldest water, coldest swim in the world,” said Phil White, the director of Kingdom Games, adding that it is the only competitive, 25m ice pool in all of the Americas.
Swimmers were escorted out onto the frozen lake in robes and stripped down into their suits just before plunging in. Once they finished, escorts handed them towels and robes before they were walked to a nearby warming building.
Nelson was so excited that she did not get much sleep on Thursday night before the 200m swim.
She said she inhaled some water and felt nauseous after eating lunch an hour earlier so she had to slow down her pace.
“It was still fun,” she said.
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