- Title: Russian, Polish ice swimmers count down to winter
- Date: 26th October 2019
- Summary: KALININGRAD, RUSSIA (OCTOBER 26, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ICE-SWIMMING COMPETITION IN PROGRESS SPECTATORS AND PARTICIPANTS CHEERING VARIOUS OF SWIMMERS IN LAKE SPECTATORS CHEERING SWIMMERS CHANTING IN WATER (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) SWIMMER, OLGA (NO LAST NAME GIVEN), SAYING: "It is great. It is the first time that I swim like that in such a cold water. We used to dip in it, but not swim like that." SPECTATORS, ONE DRESSED AS WALRUS, CHEERING (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) PRESIDENT OF President of Swarzedz ice-swimming club WLODZIMIERZ TURKIEWICZ, SAYING: "Today the water was very warm, too warm for ice-swimmers. But when we came in here we felt the trend to swim and in this water we felt like a fish in water." "KING" OF POLISH ICE-SWIMMERS YANUSH SMORCHINSKY HOLDING WARDER ICE SWIMMERS, WRITING ON BACKS READING (Russian) "AMBER WALRUSES" ("Walrus" is Russian nickname for ice-swimmers) SMORCHINSKY BLESSING AUDIENCE WITH WARDER VARIOUS OF SWIMMERS PLANTING TREE AND CHEERING SIGN ON BUILDING READING (Russian) "AMBER WALRUSES" (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) "KING" OF POLISH ICE-SWIMMERS, YANUSH SMORCHINSKY, SAYING: "Everybody loves very much me as a king because I try to be a cheerful winter swimmer and infect everybody with ice-swimming because it’s a very fun discipline. It gives you health, as you can see, I feel very healthy. I send best wishes to all ice-swimmers, from Poland and to our friends from Kaliningrad that visited us twice already."
- Embargoed: 9th November 2019 18:35
- Keywords: winter swimming Polish winter swimmers lake swimming competiton amature swimming
- Location: KALININGRAD, RUSSIA
- City: KALININGRAD, RUSSIA
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Human Interest / Brights / Odd News,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA001B2QHI61
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: As clocks change in Europe, ice swimmers are getting ready for the winter.
On Saturday (October 26), Russian and Polish ice-swimmers tested the waters in Kaliningrad - a Russian region that lies on the Baltic Sea between EU members Lithuania and Poland.
The 12 degrees Celsius was a rather cold for newcomers but not for the veterans.
The friendship between Russian and Polish ice-swimming clubs has been going on for years, with teams visiting each other’s favourite spots twice a year.
Winter swimming is popular among middle-aged and elderly people who either believe in its health benefits - or simply because they just like the way it feels.
(Production: Zhanna Meiler, Dmitry Turlyun, Aiden Nulty) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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