- Jurgen Klopp to target player welfare in Red Bull role
- Volkswagen sees 'painful' cost cuts ahead as profit plunges
- Spain races to save victims as floods kill 62
- Tuberculosis cases hit record high: WHO
- Volcanoes 'hidden source' of CO2 in past climate change: study
- Eurozone economy grows faster than expected
- Mediators to propose Gaza truce amid deadly Israeli strikes
- China's Hisense first sponsor of new Club World Cup
- Georgia prosecutors probe alleged election 'falsification'
- New Zealand's Ajaz 'emotional' on Mumbai return after perfect 10
- Trump, Harris in frantic campaign push as US election nears
- Worries for Japan economy after election shock
- Israel short on soldiers after year of war
- Volkswagen profit plunges on high costs, Chinese slump
- De Zorzi out for 177 as S.Africa power to 413-5 against Bangladesh
- 'CEO of supercute': Hello Kitty turns 50
- Australia head coach McDonald handed new deal until 2027
- Visual artist grabs 'decisive moment' to nurture Chad art scene
- Industrial slump leaves Germany on brink of recession
- 'I'm terrified': French auteur Audiard hits Oscars trail for 'Emilia Perez'
- New Indonesia defence chief harks back to dictator's rule
- In Tennessee, the despair of gun control advocates
- US economy's solid growth unlikely to register at ballot box
- 'A treasure': Japan's Ohtani a hometown hero win or lose in World Series
- Botswana votes with ruling party seeking to extend six decades of power
- Bitcoin close to record as cautious markets eye US election
- Hometown hero Volpe lives dream with grand slam for Yankees
- Rested relief pitchers please Roberts even after Dodgers defeat
- UK's Labour govt prepares to deliver decisive first budget
- Volpe's grand slam helps Yankees avoid World Series sweep
- Taiwan battens down for Super Typhoon Kong-rey
- MotoGP world title in sight as Martin, Bagnaia set for Sepang duel
- 'New wave' as start-up sweeps up Thai ocean plastic
- Botswana votes with ruling party aiming to extend six decades of power
- How harmful are microplastics to human health?
- Are bioplastics really the wonder alternative to petro plastics?
- Rumble in the Jungle remembered after 50 years
- Trump risks backlash with anti-trans ads targeting Harris
- Alzheimer's patient 'relieved' at Quebec's assisted suicide policy shift
- Who should get paid for nature's sequenced genes?
- Bodies found as torrential rains slam Spain
- Climate change driving 'record threats to health': report
- Harris warns of 'obsessed' Trump power grab at mass Washington rally
- Southampton, Brentford scrape into League Cup quarter-finals
- PGA players council seeks smaller fields, fewer full tour spots
- Napoli extend lead at top of Serie A with win at AC Milan
- Jennifer Lopez to boost Harris at glitzy Las Vegas event
- Global stocks mixed as markets await Big Tech results
- Three-person crew blasts off for China's Tiangong space station
- Google reports strong growth driven by AI, Cloud
RBGPF | 100% | 62.35 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.65% | 24.57 | $ | |
SCS | -3.11% | 12.21 | $ | |
NGG | -1.35% | 65.12 | $ | |
BCC | -5.3% | 131.64 | $ | |
GSK | 0.76% | 38.17 | $ | |
AZN | -1.05% | 75.22 | $ | |
BTI | -1.31% | 34.46 | $ | |
RELX | -0.52% | 47.91 | $ | |
RIO | 0.6% | 66.58 | $ | |
RYCEF | 0.55% | 7.25 | $ | |
BCE | -0.71% | 32.46 | $ | |
JRI | -0.69% | 12.98 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.16% | 24.84 | $ | |
VOD | -2.8% | 9.28 | $ | |
BP | -5.76% | 29.36 | $ |
Ice day for a swim: Braving America's ice water 'Olympics'
In Newport, Vermont, near the border with Canada, 76-year-old Ginny Peck gingerly steps into Lake Memphremagog. The temperature is just above zero and she's competing in America's ice swimming "Olympics."
"I think I'm a cold person to begin with," Peck tells AFP, after completing the 50-meter freestyle at the Memphremagog Winter Swim Festival, which is taking place Saturday and Sunday.
It's the fourth time she has entered the annual event, which started in 2015 and has more than 120 hardy souls taking part this year.
Peck -- from the northeastern US state of New Hampshire -- wears just goggles, a cap and swimsuit as she does the front crawl through waters of 34 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius).
No wetsuits are allowed in the 75-foot pool that has been cut out of the frozen freshwater glacial lake.
On the sidelines, curious spectators stand in snow, wearing thick winter jackets, thermals, hats and gloves as they cheer on participants, ranging in age from 14 to late 70s.
"I think I've always been comfortable with cold," says Peck. "I love a challenge. I get a rush when I get out of that water."
When she does get out she heads straight to a small building on the side of the lake. There, Peck and other competitors are wrapped in blankets and towels. They put their feet in buckets of warm water. Some shiver while others share laughs with their friends.
The swimmers flock to Newport from all over the United States and Canada. Some are experienced cold-water swimmers while others are here just to try it once.
- Smiles and Shivers -
"We have over 100 swimmers from around the country, and many of them have been here before, many of them are new," explained event founder Philip White, 73.
Categories include the 25-meter freestyle, 200-meter freestyle, 25-meter breast stroke and 25-meter fly, as well as relay races.
Even at 18, Vera Rivard is one of the more experienced swimmers. She has swum the Triple Crown of open-water swimming, which includes the English Channel, the Catalina Channel off Southern California and the Manhattan Island marathon swim in New York City.
Rivard, also from New Hampshire, explains how she and her sister prepare for Lake Memphremagog.
"We basically ride the temperature down in the fall until the lakes freeze over near our house. And then after that we fill our bathtub with ice from outside and then get in the bathtub with cold water in it," she tells AFP.
Not every swimmer is as expert as Peck or Rivard. Many don't finish their swims and most need an escort to take them to the warming hut, but almost everyone leaves the water with a smile.
At the moment, this ice swimming competition is the only one in the United States. White hopes to organize more, however.
"We are looking for other sites in Canada and elsewhere in the US so that we can establish the Federation of Ice Pools to do these swims throughout the winter," he tells AFP.
X.M.Francisco--PC