Swimmers take icy plunge in Stockholm

Every year, Sweden puts on a cold water swimming competition. This sport is getting more popular. This year, there were 156 competitors from 10 countries who swam.

Kalle organises the event.

Kalle: "So, today we have 1.9 celsius degrees in the water and we have about 156 swimmers joining us."

Latvia had a lot of swimmers in the competition. Maria was excited to dive into the ice cold water in Stockholm.

Maria Yrjö-Koskinen: "So, this is a dream come true to be in beautiful Stockholm and this is a healthy lifestyle. We love it! We say, 'the colder the water, the warmer the friendship'."

Cold water swimming is getting attention because people believe it's good for our health. Aleksander talks about the benefits.

Aleksander: "You know this is excellent treatment, excellent opportunity to keep your body in a good fit and your mind clear, to get the positive emotions."

Anne-Françoise is a swimmer from Belgium who prepared in an outdoor pool. This was her first race.

Anne-Françoise Melot: "It's amazing! The adrenaline, I'm not even cold as you can see. From an outsider's point of view, you must think we are nuts but it's such a blessing."

This was the first experience for lots of competitors. But Lars is 73 and he has been doing this since he was a teenager.

Lars Avellan: "I started as a young teenager, so I've done it for a very long time."

After the cold dive, swimmers receive medals and warm handshakes.

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