‘We just kept swimming’: Group of Ashfield Lake swimmers perseveres through all seasons

A group of swimmers takes a dip in an icy Ashfield Lake on New Year’s Day.

A group of swimmers takes a dip in an icy Ashfield Lake on New Year’s Day. STAFF PHOTO/MADISON SCHOFIELD

Mary Link and Ricki Carroll share a clementine while going for a swim in Ashfield Lake on New Year’s Day.

Mary Link and Ricki Carroll share a clementine while going for a swim in Ashfield Lake on New Year’s Day. STAFF PHOTO/MADISON SCHOFIELD

Ricki Caroll goes for her first swim of 2025 in an icy Ashfield Lake.

Ricki Caroll goes for her first swim of 2025 in an icy Ashfield Lake. STAFF PHOTO/MADISON SCHOFIELD

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

Staff Writer

Published: 01-06-2025 3:05 PM

ASHFIELD — You wouldn’t think of a cloudy, windy day with a slight drizzle and a maximum temperature of 44 degrees as a perfect day for a swim, but for swimmers on Ashfield Lake, a little cold never bothered them anyway.

Ashfield resident Mary Link said she’s been swimming in the lake her whole life and has gone for a swim at least once a month since she was a kid. During milder winters, she could swim across the lake from the boat launch to the Ashfield Lake House, and in colder winters, she and her friends would just break a hole in the ice and go for a quick plunge.

“We just kept swimming,” Link said. “We swam through the fall and kept swimming till it froze over, and then we broke open a hole with a crow bar just to dunk in.”

Last winter, Link and a group of friends decided to take the plunge a bit further by creating a frozen swim lane. Link bought an 8-foot ice saw that she uses to carve a 6-foot-by-40-foot swim lane, which amounts to about half the length of an average pool’s lap swimming lane. After carving the edge, Link and the other swimmers use crow bars to smash the ice and push the ice chunks further under the lake’s surface to clear a swimming hole.

Swimmer Ricki Carroll said every few days the surface will refreeze and the group has to break it open again, but the swim is worth the effort.

According to the Mayo Clinic, studies have shown the occasional polar plunge comes with numerous health benefits. Immersing yourself in water below 50 degrees can reduce inflammation, boost your metabolism and immune system, and trigger hormone production that improves cognitive function and mood.

Ashfield Lake’s winter swimmers say the health benefits are great, but they jump into the water for fun.

“We just did it for the fun of it,” Carroll said.

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Link added that the practice of swimming in icy water has proved to be a good therapy exercise, reminding the swimmers to breathe and that if they can get through a freezing swim, they can get through anything.

“It’s incredibly invigorating,” Link said. “When you plunge in, your body automatically goes, ‘Holy s***, I’ve gotta get out’, but if you breathe and get past the emergency and tell yourself it’s OK, you’ll be OK.”

Some days they swim in just their bathing suits for a quick dip; other times the swimmers wear complete wetsuits and can stay in the water for hours. When wearing just a bathing suit, Carroll said, it is safest to only stay in the water for five minutes or so, and then go dry off and warm up to prevent hypothermia.

On New Year’s Day, a handful of swimmers gathered for an afternoon swim in the lake. The air temperature was about 41 degrees, but the water was much colder, about 32 degrees. And with wind and rain, it felt colder still.

“We all just kept each other going,” Link said.

Anyone who is interested in dipping their toes in the water is encouraged to try. The group is there most days when the weather cooperates, and even sometimes when the weather does not, Carroll said.

Carroll added that swimmers should always bring a crow bar to break up any ice, as well as a buddy to cheer them on and keep them safe while swimming.