LITHUANIA: ICY SWIMMERS BRAVE COLD OF THE BALTIC SEA

Record ID: 211024

  • Title: LITHUANIA: ICY SWIMMERS BRAVE COLD OF THE BALTIC SEA
  • Date: 24th February 1996
  • Summary: PALANGA, LITHUANIA (February 24, 1996) 1. CROWD OF SWIMMERS RUNNING TOWARD THE SEA. 2. DUCKS SITTING ON THE SNOW. 3. CROWD OF SWIMMERS CHEERING. 4. COUPLE OF SWIMMERS SITTING BENEATH THE SIGN "PALANGA WINTER SWIMMERS - 96" 5. GERMAN TOURIST SAYING (ENGLISH) "I AM VERY EXCITED ABOUT THIS DAY AND IT IS NOT AT COLD TODAY". 6. SWIMMERS JUMPING INTO WATER. 7. BEARDED MAN COMING OUT OF THE WATER. 8. MAN WITH FISH IN HIS MOUTH (IMITATING WALRUS SINCE WINTER SWIMMERS IN RUSSIA AND LITHUANIA ARE NAMED 'MORZHI' AFTER WALRUSES) WALKS INTO WATER. 9. THREE MEN STANDING ON ICEBERG, SINGING LITHUANIAN FOLK SONGS. 10. MIDDLE-AGED WOMAN JUMPS ONTO THE BACK OF A MAN WITH THE FISH BUT FALLS INTO WATER. 11. YOUNG COUPLE BATHING WITH THEIR CHILDREN. 12. ONLOOKERS WATCHING FROM A PIER. 13. OLDEST WINTER SWIMMER PRANAS WALKS INTO ICE-HOLE. 14. DAINIUS KEPENIS SAYS "WE HOLD THESE FESTIVALS OF HEALTH EVERY YEAR AND THIS YEAR YOU SEE A THOUSAND PEOPLE SWIMMING IN THE WATER." (ENGLISH) Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
  • Embargoed: 10th March 1996 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: PALANGA, LITHUANIA
  • City:
  • Country: EUROPE Lithuania
  • Reuters ID: LVA3OTIQ2KM4KVS1EYRXJLJBW243
  • Story Text: A thousand people endured a winter swim in the icy waters of the Baltic Sea off Palanga on Saturday (February 25) in an annual health festival.

    With the air temperature below zero Celsius the swimmers plunged through a hole in the ice as less daring, and probably more sensible, people watched from a jetty.

    A German tourist at the "Health Festival" said he enjoyed jogging on snow and leaping into icy water but claimed it was not cold.

    Dainius Kepenis, the director of Palanga Health School, said the festivals were regularly held in winter. He estimated 1,000 swimmers were taking part and forecast even more would be risking frostbite next year.

    Palanga, once among the most popular resorts in the USSR, boasts some of the longest beaches in Europe, has lost its popularity since the break-up of the Soviet Union.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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