AILSA CHANG, HOST:
The weather may be getting warmer, but for most of us, we are still a ways out from swimming weather - though not so for a group who call themselves the Brave Souls. The women, who plunge into the icy waters of the Connecticut River each week, are featured in a podcast by Dartmouth student Eliza Dunn. Her story was one of this year's finalists in NPR's College Podcast Challenge.
(SOUNDBITE OF PODCAST, "BRAVE SOULS")
ELIZA DUNN: I'm at a boat launch just off of Route 5 in Norwich, Vermont. It's late February, and it's bitter cold. Alongside three other women, I'm getting ready to go for a swim.
ALLIE EVANS: So I came dressed in, like, a wearable blanket, sweatpants, wool socks and tennis shoes, with my bathing suit under.
DUNN: This is Allie Evans, one of the members of an Upper Valley cold-water dipping group called the Brave Souls. The other women here are also buried under layers of clothing, but when it's time to swim, they all strip down to bathing suits. Before I know it, they're wading into the river, pushing away floating blocks of ice.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Shouting) Woo. Woo.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Do not fall (ph) at all. Just went positive.
DUNN: The timer starts, three minutes on the clock. When I learned about the Brave Souls here in the Upper Valley, I knew I needed to join them for a dip.
AMY GREEN: But in those really cold days, we've had to, like, kind of break through the ice to be able to get into the water. We just crushed right through it (laughter).
DUNN: This is Amy Green. Amy essentially serves as the main organizer of the Brave Souls, even though she just moved to Norwich over the summer from northern Vermont. And not long after that, she roped in her new friend Kendra, who's also pretty new to the Upper Valley.
KENDRA LITTNER: Kendra Littner - I live in Hanover, New Hampshire. When I went for the first time, I knew nothing. I didn't know you stay there for three minutes, which is insane.
DUNN: Amy and Kendra have very different takes on what happens next.
LITTNER: When I go in, the instant pain is terrible. Like, what are you doing?
GREEN: I like to just - like, I take in the beauty. And I'm always just reminding everybody, like, look how - like, distract yourself.
LITTNER: I feel like Amy is always like, oh, turn to the sunset, sunset. She'll be like, look, we're here, and the sun is shining. Like, very calm, relaxing stuff. Makes me want to punch her in the face.
(Shouting) Wah. Oh, actually, the face didn't feel that bad in swimming.
GREEN: Oh, and the wind picked up for this (laughter).
LITTNER: Yeah.
(SOUNDBITE OF ALARM)
GREEN: I like to swim. I like getting that...
DUNN: And then the timer goes off. The Brave Souls have been in the water for a little over three minutes.
GREEN: Yes. (Shouting) Woo.
LITTNER: It's like just...
When you get out, like, it's almost like just having, like, a rush of caffeine or a rush of adrenaline. Like, you're just like, yes. And I feel like, just super I want to say happy. Like, your body just kind of, like, feels so good. Like, you've done something for yourself.
GREEN: (Laughter).
DUNN: So, how's everyone feeling?
LITTNER: Great.
GREEN: Excellent. I feel energized and surprisingly not cold yet.
DUNN: At first, it was that post-dip feeling that kept them coming back to dip. But now, after months of consistent dipping, both Amy and Kendra say it's more than the feeling that keeps them going.
GREEN: I really think it's about being with other people.
LITTNER: The group is - they're nuts. I need nuts. Nuts keeps me going. This is something it - I have no idea what it does, but it's definitely brought me closer to people that I, again, would never have met.
DUNN: And through it all, here in the Connecticut River, they've forged a sense of home. And not just in a normal way - in a crazy, breathless, shrieking, cursing kind of way. And at the end of every dip, the Brave Souls bundle back up, they crank the heat in their cars, and they promise each other that they'll be back next week.
GREEN: Woo.
CHANG: That story was from NPR College Podcast Challenge finalist Eliza Dunn. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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