Editorial: Winter Swimming

Winter swimming is just what is sounds like - swimming, usually outdoors, in the middle of winter. Swimmers will carve a large hole in the middle of the ice in a lake or wade in near a spring where the ice doesn’t freeze over. The tradition is more common than you may think. International winer and ice swimming competitions take place all over the world! The two largest organizations are the International Ice Swimming Association and the International Winer Swimming Association. The tradition is held in Northern Europe in countries like Finland, Denmark, and Norway as well as in Australia. Western European countries like the U.K. and Germany also hold the tradition, as does China where there are reportedly 141 winter swimming organizations with around 200,000 members. Eastern Europe, Russia, Canada and the United States also hold many ice swimming events. This drone video shows ice swimming in Poland. In Eastern Europe and Russia, winter swimming is a way to celebrate Epiphany, while in North America and Western Europe “polar plunges” are done on New Year’s Day! Although there are health risks such as cold shock response, hyperventilation, and hypothermia, scientists around the world have found many health benefits to winter swimming. These benefits include better mood and memory function, pain and stress relief, and weight loss since more fat is used to insulate the body in extreme cold. See more of Johny Kondakjian Photography’s work HERE. You can also check out our Winter Sports From Above and Drone Videos of Winter Scenes Collections for more unique and inspiring videos of winter. SOURCES: “Winter Swimming,” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Jan. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_swimming