Category: Winter Swimming

Sheets of ice and layers of snow aren’t enough to deter Gilly McArthur who is swimming in Cumbria’s lakes and tarns everyday in January for charity.

Orthodox Christians in Ukraine celebrated the festival of Epiphany by taking a dip in ice-cold waters and carolling across the country.

Kyiv’s polar bears believe that plunging into icy water has unique health benefits that help prolong their lives. Others in Ukraine take a polar plunge for religious or historical traditions. Whatever the case, many Ukrainians just don’t fear the cold.

On Сhristening it is customary to plunge into an ice-hole with ice water. In ancient Russia, newborn children were dipped into an ice-hole to strengthen their physical health. Thus, hardening was carried out so that the baby grows strong and hardy. Prepare before the expected date in advance, tempering your body with a contrast shower…

Twelve Orthodox Christian athletes took part in a traditional Epiphany swim in Belgrade’s Ada Ciganlija icy lake on Tuesday. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, fewer swimmers than usual were allowed to take part, and the race was not competitive. The 33-meter-swim, symbolising Jesus Christ’s 33 years, was followed by the release of seven pigeons symbolising God.…

When most of us get out-and-about for our daily exercise we go for a walk, or even a run, but Fay Preene likes to get even closer to nature by jumping in a freezing cold lake! We’ll be joining Fay on her morning swim in Lake Windermere today, as she tells us about the various…

Dug a whole in to the lake and enjoyed some dips into the frozen lake after some sauna. Wonderful wintery time in Saimaa.

As winter arrived in Yakutia, we thought we should at least try once swimming in the frozen river. One of our friends who does this on a regular basis offered to take us to the hole they dug in the river for us to experience ice swimming.