Minnesota Ice Swim Club

As Minnesota’s only LGBTQ+ masters swim team,  our mission is to provide a safe, affirming community for LGBTQ+ athletes, promoting health and fitness through swimming in the Twin Cities area.

Our vision is to become the premier LGBTQ+ swim club in the United States, where all LGBTQ+ athletes are able to cultivate a life-long passion for the sport of swimming.

Minnesota Ice Swim Club has been in existence for over 25 years. We started out competing as the “Minnesota Rainbow Trout” and was initially created to prepare for and represent Minnesota at the very first Gay Games in NYC in 1994. Shortly after, in 1998, the name was officially changed to “Minnesota Ice” at the International Gay and Lesbian Aquatics Championships in Amsterdam. Minnesota Ice is a play-on-words of the popular phrase “Minnesota nice”, as well as our standing as one of the most wintry and cold places in the continental United States - “ice”.

In the 2000’s until 2018, Minnesota Ice largely consisted of 1-2 members. In late 2018, two queer swimmers in Minneapolis sought to re-establish Minnesota Ice to once again have Minnesota join the ranks of other well-known cities that boast an all-inclusive, LGBTQ+ swim team. The team officially re-launched March 6th, 2019. As of today, Minnesota Ice has grown to be the largest masters team in Minnesota. We have gone from fully-volunteer run to paid, part-time coaching staff of 4.

At the 2023 IGLA Championships, hosted in London, England, Minnesota Ice fielded the largest team to-date, placing 2nd in the Medium Team Division (7th Overall). Minnesota Ice hopes to continue their success and improve their standings at IGLA 2024 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

PAST APPEARANCES

• 2019 IGLA NYC - 27th Overall
• 2020 IGLA Melbourne - 1st Small Team (13th Overall)
• 2022 IGLA Palm Springs - 2nd Medium Team (8th Overall)
• 2023 IGLA London - 2nd Medium Team (7th Overall)

Minnesota Ice is a 501c3 non-profit. We are a part of US Masters Swimming (USMS) and IGLA (International LGBTQ Aquatics). We compete at the local, national, and international level.