NEWPORT – Over the last two weekends of February, 178 winter swimmers gathered, albeit virtually, in their home state for this year’s Virtual Memphremagog Winter Swim Festival.
Participants, representing 26 states, 3 Canadian provinces, and Ireland, swam where they could and sledded where they couldn’t.
Alana Aubin of Belmont, Mass, won the fiercely contested Hat Competition for her Pancake Breakfast Hat, which she said was inspired by Couture’s Vermont Maple Syrup and the legendary breakfasts at the Brown Cow in Newport.
Some, like the Dabulamanzi Tribe of Maryland, cleared their very own 12.5-meter, two-lane pool.
Participants in Chicago chopped a large hole in the ice of Lake Michigan.
The annual ribbon ceremony, in which participants write the name of someone who has had cancer on a biodegradable ribbon and tosses it into the water, raised $3,058.50 for the local Halo Foundation.
The group of Memphremagog winter swimmers has steadily grown since the first winter swimming festival in 2015, from 41 that first year, to a couple hundred this year.
Winter swimmers have already registered for 2022.
Event organizers say they will be reopening online registration this month at www.kingdomgames.co and will be capping the number of participants at 110 and the number of volunteers at 35 next year.
