december-2009

YOU HAVE TO GET USED TO IT. IF YOU
JUST START IN DECEMBER, IT’S
GOING TO BE PRETTY TRAUMATIC
from September to April, allowing their
bodies to acclimatise to the chilly waters.
“The point is that you have to get used
to it,” says Andrej. “If you just start in
December, then it’s going to be pretty
traumatic. We start in the autumn, when
the water is 17 degrees or so. It then
gradually gets colder, until in the depths
of winter, the water is zero degrees or just
half a degree, but of course it never gets
colder than that. Even if the air has some
10 degrees, which happens from time to
time, and water feels much colder, the
water always stops at zero.”
The Berlin Seals were founded in
1978, when lake swimming was a
pastime that was actively encouraged by
the German Democratic Republic. Since
the reunifi cation of Germany, however,
this eccentric hobby has continued partly
on the grounds that it’s a fun, social
activity (Andrej goes every week with his
entire family – even his mother-in-law
comes along for this bizarre, naked
ICE SWIMMING | BERLIN
★ WHERE ELSE TO
CHILL OUT ACROSS
THE NETWORK
Feeling brave enough to take the plunge?
Try one of these festive swims:
★ London The Peter Pan Christmas
Day race takes place in Hyde Park’s
Serpentine. You can only race if you have
competed in the entire winter series,
but that doesn’t stop you popping down
to watch these lunatics plunge into icy
waters at 9am on 25 December.
serpentineswimmingclub.com
★ Venice Hundreds of people gather
at Lido di Venezia to celebrate the New
Year with an annual swim. Following
a Viennese waltz, the hardy Ibernisti
swimmers take a dip in the sea before
feasting on a typical combination of wine,
lentils and sausage. turismovenezia.it
★ Barcelona The fi rst day of the New
Year is greeted in Barcelona with a swim
off Sant Sebastià beach. You don’t have
to register for the primer bany de l’any,
but if you do, you get a hot shower in the
club’s house afterwards. bcn.es
★ The Hague Throngs of people fl ock
to the Nieuwjaarsduik (New Year’s Dive)
at the seaside district of Scheveningen.
Up to 10,000 bathers take part, all clad in
orange bobble hats. nieuwjaarsduik.nl
★ Edinburgh The Loony Dook (pictured)
takes place at the Firth of Forth at South
Queensferry on 1 January. The event
fi rst took place in 1987 when two friends
decided to celebrate the New Year – and
rid themselves of their hangovers – by
diving into the freezing waters of the
Forth. theloonydook.co.uk
DECEMBER 09 | TRAVELLER | 79