Summers are short in Norfolk, and a rainy July made this summer seem even shorter. So as autumn started to turn cold, some avid swimmers, like Jude Mead, Louise Davis and Gloria Gourley (pictured left to right), were not willing to hang up their bathing suits just yet.

Davis said that the three of them love cold water swimming, and in September they made a pact to go swimming in Doolittle Lake on Nov. 1. But it snowed on that day—2.7 inches in Norfolk, according to the weather station at Great Mountain Forest—and the low temperature the next day was a frigid 23 degrees.

But a “warming” trend followed, so on Nov. 7, with the temperature at 51 degrees, the three friends jumped into Doolittle Lake—twice.

“It makes you feel good,” said Davis. “It was an exhilarating fun swim that we all thoroughly enjoyed.” 

Now that it’s December, they have no plans for further dips, but who can say what a January thaw might inspire?