(Newport, Vermont) Water temperatures just exceed zero degrees in Lake Memphremagog, a few kilometers from the Vermont-Quebec border. Not enough to discourage Ginny Peck, 76, who participates in a rare swimming competition in icy water.
Posted yesterday at 4:51 p.m.
“I think I’ve always been comfortable with the cold,” says Ginny Peck, after swimming a 50-meter freestyle at the weekend-long Memphremagog Winter Swim Festival in Newport. , in Vermont, on the border with Canada.
” I like challenges. I get a rush of adrenaline when I get out of the water, ”adds this septuagenarian from the neighboring state of New Hampshire, who now has four participations in this annual event born in 2015.
PHOTO JOSEPH PREZIOSO, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Ginny Peck, 76, is about to slide into Lake Memphremagog to compete in the 50m freestyle. “I think I’ve always been comfortable with the cold,” she says.
Against an icy white backdrop, Ginny wears only a swim cap, goggles, and a one-piece swimsuit when she enters the water. Wetsuits are not permitted to enter the two-line pool carved into the frozen lake, which is just under 25 meters long.
On the sides, spectators stand in the snow, wearing thick winter jackets, hats and gloves, while encouraging the participants.
Among the 120 courageous who brave the cold, Vera Rivard is one of the most experienced, even though she is only 18 years old. She has already completed a Triple Crown, a famous open water swimming competition that includes the English Channel, Santa Catalina (California) and Manhattan in New York.
Also from New Hampshire, she shares how she prepares with her sister.
“Basically, we surf in the fall until the lakes freeze near us. And then after that, we fill our bathtub with ice from the outside and get into the bathtub with cold water in it,” she told AFP.
After the races, which range from 25 meters to 200 meters, swimmers can head straight to a small building, where blankets, towels and buckets of hot water await them to warm their feet.
Not all are as experienced as Ginny or Vera. Some have to give up and need to be accompanied to the heating hut, but all keep smiling.
“We have over 100 swimmers across the country. Many of them have already come, many are new”, explains the founder of the event, Philip White, 73, long white beard and chapka on his head.
“We are looking for other sites in Canada and elsewhere in the United States, to establish a federation of ice-water pools and to organize these swims throughout the winter,” he explains, while this sport is more developed on the European side.
On the shores of Lake Memphremagog, at the end of the race, the participants receive medals. But also maple syrup and beef jerky.