DANVILLE — Sally Cummings and Jenness Ide are on a quest to swim every lake and pond in Vermont.
Using a discontinued Vermont Fish & Wildlife map of the state’s water bodies, Cummings creates a list of the ponds they plan to swim. Each summer, they log an average of 10 swims.
Cummings, 75, of South Burlington, and Ide, 81, of Danville, have visited at least two lakes every summer since 2013.
They have swum in more than 100 water bodies so far, with 63 left to go.
The idea began when the two reconnected in their hometown of Barre, reminiscing about summer camp days from their youth.
Cummings had an idea: What if they recreated those childhood adventures by swimming in each of Vermont’s ponds? Ide said yes, and their adventure began.
Along the way, they have met toothless fishermen, kind strangers and nudists, among other characters.
“Every swim has a story attached to it,” Ide said.
The rules are simple: 10 strokes out and back. If there is a floating dock, they must swim to it. Cummings refers to the added infrastructure as a “water park.”
For each swim, the pair takes a photo and adds the date to a spreadsheet tracking that year’s swims. Their recordkeeping has expanded to include a list of superlatives — most disappointing, most fun, best “water park” — and a photo album for each year.
“Sally’s the one who made us document the lakes and take a photo,” Ide said. “And I’m so grateful because lakes all look alike after a while. And you think, ‘Oh, where the heck was that?’”
“It became clear to me early on that they were going to mush together,” Cummings added. “And we’d had so much fun meeting different people.”
One such occasion came during an excursion to Long Pond. After struggling to find a beach, they were approached by a woman they later nicknamed “Lady Godiva.”
“I said, ‘Her bathing suit looks like plastic or something,’” Cummings said. “It was a nudist colony.”
The woman told them they were welcome to swim there — “but you have to pay $35 for the day, and you have to take all your clothes off,” Cummings said.
“Jenness looked at her and said, ‘Thank you very much. We won’t be doing that today.’ And away we went.”
Despite growing up together in Barre, the two were not initially close. Ide, whose maiden name is Berg, was best friends with Cummings’ older brother.
They call themselves the BergCum Swim Club, a combination of “Cummings” and Ide’s maiden name. The name originated with the “BergCum Detective Agency,” which they formed in childhood to spy on older siblings.
Life eventually took them in different directions. Ide became a nurse. Cummings joined the Peace Corps and later taught English as a second language to international students at St. Michael’s College.
They reconnected after meeting again at a string of funerals and gradually began seeing each other more often.
“I was the little sister that was kind of a pest,” Cummings said. “I wanted to grow up and be just like her. That was my dream.”
“Oh, yeah. And Sally is my idol now,” Ide said.
“To have connected with her as an adult and be able to share our childhood, and also to be doing something together as adults that not all of our friends would care to participate in, but we love — I feel this strong connection to Jenness through this activity, which has been very special,” Cummings said.
A highlight for the two has been the kindness of strangers. When no public beach is available, they ask landowners for permission to access the water, often leading to memorable encounters.
One woman gave them a loaf of banana bread after letting them use her dock. Others have offered directions or restaurant recommendations after granting access to their waterfronts.
Some have even helped them track down hard-to-find ponds. Cummings’ electrician, after hearing about one particularly tricky location, told her he had a camp there and provided directions.
More often, Cummings said, people want to follow their example.
“I wouldn’t say they want to help us,” she said. “I’d say they want to emulate us.”
During a trip to Sunrise-Sunset Lakes, the pair met a younger duo of female swimmers. The two pairs exchanged stories and promised to stay in touch.
Friends and family members have also taken note of the adventure.
“Really, we shouldn’t have been surprised, as Sally has a history of adventuresome swimming,” said Rick Cummings, her cousin, who accompanied the swim club on a 2019 visit to Forest Lake.
“I’ve known Jenness Ide for over 30 years and have always admired her penchant for curiosity and exploration,” said Maggie Lewis, Ide’s close friend. “This adventure has kept Jenness even more young at heart than she already is.”
Cummings and Ide say many of their friends have started similar quests — one visiting every independent bookstore in New Hampshire, another every covered bridge in Vermont.
They don’t want the journey to end. The undertaking has brought them closer as friends.
“There’s something very special about it because I think we both have the same level of appreciation for what we’re doing,” Cummings said. “It’s really solidified a whole different aspect to our friendship that never would have existed without it.”
Ide calls it “a lifetime project.”
“The fun is in the journey,” Cummings said. “Yes, we have a destination — whatever lakes or ponds we’re looking to do that day — but getting there and getting to the next one and meeting the people along the way and seeing how beautiful Vermont is, that’s the joy for me.”