The expanded 2023 Memphremagog Winter Swimming Festival is now SOLD OUT, with 185 winter swimmers signing on for one to three days of cold-water swimming in the only 25-meter, two-lane pool cut in the ice in all of the Americas. They are traveling from as far west as Alaska, California, Washington, and Oregon and as far east as New Brunswick, Maine, and Ireland. They will be swimming in events of 25 meters to 200 meters in water that generally runs 30.5 F (Think microscopic slush.)
Swimmers will be supported by over 50 Kingdom Games staff and volunteers, setting up flagpoles, carrying baskets of clothes from one end of the pool to the other, escorting swimmers from the Release Station in the EastSide Restaurant out to the pool and back, warming them in the Marina building after their swim, timing their swim and entering the times, walking beside the pool with pool hooks to provide a hand and a pull in the event of distress and skimming the pool of ice between swims. We are looking for a few more Volunteers. Here’s the link for Volunteer Registration.
The Festival is hosted by Kingdom Games and the EastSide Restaurant & Pub. Once again, the pool will be cut by Michael Booth and the Boyz of Winter. At the Jammie and Barr Hill Vodka Shooter Party after Saturday’s swims, we will be offering a variety of specialized cocktails, including the all new BrynnGin, made of Barr Hill Gin, KIS Kombucha Beet and Lemon, Ginger Beer, and Mint. It is named after one of Newport’s newest residents, Charlotte Brynn, her business BrynnSwim, and her Swim Tech Camps and Clinics which she started last year on Lake Memphremagog. And we eat, a lot, and party around town and at Saturday’s scrumptious Swimmers and Volunteers buffet dinner at The EastSide
The Festival will be held this winter on February 24, 25, and 26, 2023, in conjunction with Newport’s Winterfest which is on Saturday, February 25th, 2023. The Winter Swim Festival started in 2015 with 41 swimmers and it has grown steadily ever since. In 2022 about 100 swimmers competed in the two-day Festival. This year, with the expansion to three days along with the growth of the sport throughout the United States, we have almost doubled the number of participants.
The joyful and fiercely fought Hat Competition is scheduled to start at 9:30 am on Saturday. February 25th, 2023. We are encouraging spectators to join us to help celebrate the heart of Winter in the Kingdom. In addition to three days of swimming we have added a Stay Play Jay Day on Monday, February 27th. This tradition of skiing on Monday started several years ago with a few swimmer-skiers and has grown in popularity.