Maine's ice mermaids created the country's largest coldwater wave
An interview with the co-founders of Two Maine Mermaids, a year-round women’s coldwater swimming group
For this year’s International Women’s Day, Kelsy Hartley and Caitlin Hopkins, the co-founders of Two Maine Mermaids, a year-round women’s coldwater group, hosted the 5th Annual Women’s Wave Dip, the largest coldwater dip in the country at Willard Beach, Maine.1 The record-breaking event brought together over 1,500 women, regular coldwater swimmers and newbies alike, to dip into Maine’s frigid water.
Early in the pandemic, Kelsy and Caitlin were connected by a mutual friend who’d noticed them both swimming in Maine’s waters all winter. Kelsy, newly sober, was inspired by a set of Irish twins, The Happy Pear, who’d dubbed their daily sunrise cold swims “swimrise.”2 Caitlin, a self described “water woman,” had extended her summer / fall swimming practice into the winter, wondering, “why do we need to stop?”
Caitlin and Kelsy spoke with me about the growth of the Women’s Wave event, how their coldwater swimming practices have shifted from personal to community-based, and why the way you get of cold water is just as important as how you get in.
You recently hosted your 5th Annual Women’s Wave Dip for International Women’s Day, the largest cold water dip in the country. How did this event get started?
Kelsy H: It started with 50 people. The next year, we had 150 people. The year after that, we had just under 300 and the year before this, we had 450. This year, we realized that we could just make it massive. We aimed to get 1,000 and we got over 1,500 people, which makes it the largest and coldest in the country.
A big turning point for us was the year before last. There was a moment where people were streaming down onto the beach, and we realized that what we had created was really, really special, and people were resonating with it.
Caitlin H: We've heard from so many people that they look back on the Women's Wave in tough times, and that it's buoyed them through tough times, and just knowing that they're not alone in whatever they're facing. We hear that at the event, and then many, many months later. It's about women doing hard things together.
We really love centering that messaging that you're not supposed to do these things by yourself. In the context of where we are gathering and doing hard things together, [that] feels more important than ever.
— Caitlin Hopkins
How have your coldwater practices impacted other aspects of your lives?
Kelsy H: Starting this coldwater practice personally, and then joining forces with Caitlin, and then starting the Two Maine Mermaids community together, made something that was personally enjoyable into a huge community. It’s lovely to be part of something bigger than myself and ourselves.
Caitlin H: From a personal perspective, the coldwater practice, it's really shifted into supporting and growing the community. Initially it was a way for me to understand my body and find my way into my body. From a mental health perspective, if I'm having a really tough day, or I hit turbulence in an airplane or something, I can put myself into the cold ocean in my brain and find some center.
We could just still be dipping by ourselves, our small group of us, but we stepped outside of that and wanted to share the joy and excitement and community that we found in our little dip crew with the bigger community.
Are there times when you don’t want to get into the water? What do you tell yourselves in those moments?
Caitlin H: Actually, this morning, I was very comfy drinking my coffee. I could just stay here and bail on this dip. What I told myself this morning was, Caitlin, you've never regretted a dip. And what if people show up? Sometimes, Kelsy and I will say, whoever shows up needs to be here, and that's always the case for me.
Kelsy H: Thinking back to first starting out, I definitely didn't want to get in the water, but I wanted the thing that was on the other side of the experience more than not wanting to get in. I wanted the mental health, and I wanted the wellness, and I wanted the community more than more than not going in the water.
Can you talk about the importance of slow entry for cold water?
Kelsy H: We recommend that because we are really aware of how the nervous system functions. We've done a lot of reading from Susanna Søberg3 and other leaders in the research of cold water swimming. Slow entry allows you to engage with your body's responses in a different way. If you jump in fast, you're going to just shock your body and and that, in one sense, is like blowing past a boundary. Being in control of the process and actively choosing to engage with it is a much different experience than just running into the water and blowing past all those things.
Caitlin H: Equally as important as the slow entry is thinking about what you're going to do when you get out of the water. A lot of people think that the getting into the water part is the hardest, and it is definitely uncomfortable, but in the depths of winter, if you're taking on a cold water practice, it can be very activating when you get out of the water and your body continues to cool down, and your hands aren't working quite the same way that they did when you went in, and your feet are cold. How you come out of the water is just as important as how you how you go in.4
Kelsy H: Love that.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
I love the part on slow entry — a new perspective when cold “plunges” are getting more attention