Ice swimming season is open in Ukraine. It all started in the Crimea, where polar bears [as amateurs of winter swimming are known – Ed.] gathered in Yevpatoria on Christmas. The meeting was attended by more than 50 polar bears from all over the peninsula. By the way, this winter the coastal waters in the Crimea disappointed the plungers. Their temperature was 10 degrees Celsius above zero, whereas last winter it was as low as three degrees. So the polar bears hope that by Epiphany [which the Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate on January 19 – Ed.] the water temperatures will have dropped and they will be able to enjoy the cold.
After that, Yevpatoria will pass the ice swimming baton on to the ski resort of Bukovel, which has for three years now hosted a Ukraine-wide polar bear festival. Nearly 200 participants come each year to celebrate Epiphany and plunge into an ice hole. Alas, no one knows exactly how many amateurs of polar plunging there are in Ukraine.
Oleksii Haron, leader of a polar bear club from Lviv, explained that usually ice swimmers will be members of community organizations uniting 10-50 persons, or simply go swimming on their own. “For example, there are half a dozen spots in Lviv where polar bears go for a plunge. Each of the spots is regularly attended by, say, two dozen people. On the national scale, this may total up to several thousand,” added Haron.
What drives people to plunge in the icy water is the desire to stay healthy. A lot of doctors maintain that ice swimming has its advantages and does a world of good to your system. The only caution is that you must not abuse it. Conditioning to the cold should be controlled by specialists. You may stay in the icy water only for 20 seconds in the first winter, next season you can go for 40-50, and during the third you can stay as long as 60-70 seconds.
Ice swimming two or three times a week is enough to make you forget about the flu and quinsy, polar bears contend. It helps you get rid of swelling and inflammations, and renew body tissues. Ice swimming is a great energizer, it enhances the system’s immunity to the cold, as well as to psychic and physical stress. It also cures radiculitis, hypertension, hypotension, lung tuberculosis, diabetes, chronic gastrointestinal conditions, skin diseases, etc. The frequency of colds in ice swimmers was observed to have dropped 60 times, and other conditions, 30 times.
Polar bear clubs can be found in most Ukrainian cities with natural bodies of water. And once winter swimming season is at its height, they are open to novices who have decided to take the path to health.
