Meghalaya's Iconic 'Midnight Swim' in Ice-Cold Pool Celebrates 27 Years of Tradition

SHILLONG: This is an audacious activity that has now become an annual event on the Meghalaya calendar in the festive season. The 'midnight swim' in a pool filled with ice blocks before the dawn of New Year's Day is a formidable task in a state that remains cold all through the year and gets colder in the winter months. The New Year's Day Eve 'ritual' has entered its 27th year in 2025.

Forever Young, the club that organizes the challenging event every year, dropped eight tonnes of ice blocks in the Crinoline Swimming Pool in the heart of the Meghalaya capital this time around.

Michael Syiem, president of Forever Young, aged 69, who himself takes the challenge, says that the dip in the freezing cold water over the years has steeled his resolve to remain fit both mentally and physically. A strict disciplinarian, Syiem has ensured that others who dare to participate in the activity are not under the influence of liquor or any intoxicating substance.

This midnight ritual practiced in Meghalaya is akin to the Japanese Shinto tradition of 'misogi' (immersing in cold water), which is believed to purify the mind and body.

"We do it for fun and recreation and of course, as a re- solve to prepare ourselves to face the challenges in the days ahead," Syiem said of the midnight swim that will give even the most determined "the shivers", practically.

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