LYME, Conn. — If their name doesn’t get your attention, the water temperature will.
In Lyme, a group of women take to the frigid waters of local swimming spots weekly; they call themselves “The Chilly Mermaids.”
The group was begun by Morgan Lavigne and Heather Imbriale – whose young kids are classmates in Old Lyme.
“A Chilly Mermaid is usually a woman who is really brave and we swim in cold water,” Lavigne said.
Imbriale added, “There are two parts to what we do in the water - there’s the part of proving to yourself that you can do hard things, but the other part is that we have found this community of women who support each other and lift each other up.”
Since the group was formed in 2022, its grown to around two dozen Chilly Mermaids who participate in polar plunges around the Old Lyme area.
On a recent Friday at Roger’s Lake in Lyme, the water temperature was just 37 degrees with blue skies and a bright sun.
“We’ve done it in snow, we’ve broken through ice with hammers and axes," Imbriale said. "No weather stops us from coming out.”
Lavigne said, “In the cold, we’re usually in for five to six minutes, in the warmer months we will stay in for 20 or 25 minutes.”
Both Lavigne and Imbriale extol the virtues of cold-water swims – both physically and from a mental standpoint – and say they hope their cold-water community continues to grow.
“We are open to having anyone who is bold enough to get in the cold water with us – male or female." Lavigne said, and then laughed, "We usually have women but we’re open to mermen too.”
The Chilly Mermaids have an Instagram page, you can follow them @chillymermaids
Jimmy Altman is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at jaltman@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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