The Winter Swim

Photo courtesy Flickr

New Year’s Day brings a predictable local news story about maniacs jumping into Puget Sound. Sunday brought what is probably a predictable Russian story about pious citizens jumping into cold water, too, as part of a traditional practice.

Puget Sound is about fifty degrees Fahrenheit year around. Going for a swim on an ordinary July day involves a chilly trip over barnacled rocks into a shockingly cold bath. It can take several minutes to work up the courage to walk neck deep into the penetrating chill of what passes for a recreational opportunity.

Going for a swim in cold weather involves a chilly trip over barnacled rocks into a shockingly cold bath. The experience of immersion is the same as July’s. The secret of a Puget Sound winter swim is that leaving the water feels like wading into tropical air.

I write from memory, not recent experience.

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