COME ON IN, THE WATER'S COLD

More and more swimmers are embracing ice swimming as an actual sport. To make sense of the lunacy, writer Marty Munson dives in FROM MEN’S HEALTH

- Marty Munson

“I DON’T WANT TO scare you, but if you don’t have a little anxiety about being out there, don’t go out,” says Greg O’Connor to the 93 swimmers who have committed to launching themselves into a lap pool that has been carved into thick ice. “It means you have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.”

It’s a Saturday morning in late February 2020 at the Memphremagog Winter Swim Festival, held over two days at Lake Memphremagog in Newport, Vermont.

O’Connor, 51, who serves as safety director for the annual festival, is holding a briefing inside a tavern that doubles as a staging area. The popularity of ice swimming has spiked in recent years, so about half the field is new.

As basically the only subzero event in North America, the Winter Swim Fest makes its own rules. The frigid “pool” is limited to two lanes and 25 metres. Races range from 25 to 200 metres and include the freestyle and butterfly strokes and various relays. While parka-clad volunteers clock times, competitors’ race attire must be chillingly confined to a cap, goggles, and a standard swimsuit.

This setup means no flip turns (“If you turn wrong, you end up under the ice,” O’Connor says). No holding the ladder or the wall too long at the end (“Your hand can freeze to it”). And no matter what, stay in touch with how you’re feeling (“You can go downhill really fast”).