Freediver Mandy Sumner set a world record in Norway recently for swimming under ice. Her perfect day takes her to many coastal spots. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

Mandy Sumner made headlines in March when she set a Guinness World Record for the longest bi-fin swim under ice by a woman in a swimsuit. The 46-year-old Sanford resident has made her name as a freediver and traveled all over the world, but she settled back in her home state during the COVID-19 pandemic and trained for her record-breaking swim here. Fittingly, a perfect day for Sumner involves plenty of time in view of water.

Fin among the purple flowers on the blueberry plains. Photo courtesy of Mandy Sumner

I would start my day – and I do this once a week anyway – down in Kennebunk at this place called Boulangerie. It’s a bakery. It’s my favorite. I love it. I travel a lot, and it’s the closest place I can find to Europe close to me. I usually go Thursday mornings. I usually get a blueberry scone and sourdough bread and a cappuccino with oat milk.

On the way back, I take my dog for a walk onto the blueberry plains on Route 99. It’s really cool. There’s a lot of trails out there on both sides of the road, and it extends into Sanford, Wells and Kennebunk. … In the summer, you have blueberries, and you can pick them. All the flowers start turning in the fall. It’s beautiful year-round there.

A man stands at the end of the Wells Harbor observation deck in 2015, while his goldendoodle frolics in the sand. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

That would be the morning, and then I love to go to Wells Harbor, also with my dog (Fin). There’s parking, and it’s quieter than the main beaches. I kind of grew up at Wells Harbor. My best friend’s dad was a lobsterman, and he lobstered out of there, so I spent a lot of my childhood at Wells Harbor, playing at the clam flats.

People walk along Marginal Way in Ogunquit in 2022. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

I love going to Marginal Way in Ogunquit. That’s a really pretty walk, and when I’m in Ogunquit in the summer, I love going to Barnacle Billy’s and getting a rum punch. All my friends used to work there in high school. Rum punches at Barnacle Billy’s are a must if you’re in Ogunquit.

If you’re going to get a rum punch at Billy’s, then you can go to Surf Point 360 after and get appetizers up on the top deck because it’s an awesome view of the ocean and the Ogunquit River. That’s another cool favorite spot of mine. I’ve taken a lot of friends there when they come to visit.

Diners eat lunch at Bandaloop in Arundel. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

Obviously, Ogunquit Beach is pretty sweet if you wanted to go walk the beach after appetizers, and in the evening, I would end up going back to the Arundel and Kennebunk area. A perfect day would be going to get dinner at Bandaloop in Arundel. They have such good food. It’s farm-to-table and organic. … I don’t eat meat, and my brother and sister-in-law are vegan, so we go there a lot because they have vegan dishes and a lot of vegetarian stuff.

Finishing it off at Vinegar Hill Music Theatre for a show or some live music would be an epic day. It’s such a cool little venue. It’s a barn that was all redone, and they have an upstairs loft where you can sit or a downstairs where there’s standing room. It’s a really neat place to see a show. They have all these candlelights on the sides of the wall. The ambiance in there is pretty neat, and the acoustics are really good, too.

Vinegar Hill Music Theatre in Arundel. Photo courtesy of Vinegar Hill Music Theatre

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