A winter swimming club in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk gathers young and old from all walks of life. They share a love of bracing, cold water. Siberian cold.
Nastya Usachyova, 9, and her mother Natalia, 39, warm up before swimming in the Yenisei River. Nastya, whose mother is a former world champion in winter swimming, first took to the icy water when she was two.
“I feel cold at first but I overcome it,” says Nastya. “Many of my friends and their parents say it’s impossible to bathe in the winter in the Yenisei River. They don’t approve.”
15 Nov 2015 . Krasnoyarsk, RUSSIA. Reuters/Ilya Naymushin
With a small wooden clubhouse on the banks of the Yenisei River, the Cryophile winter swimming club - named after organisms that thrive in extremely cold temperatures - has about 300 members.
These swimmers say they, themselves, flourish in air temperatures that often reach 30 degrees Celsius below zero or lower in the long months of a Siberian winter.
Some members of the club say regular bathing in cold water has had a positive impact on their health. Yulia Klimenkova, 16, whose whole family are also members, says the cold water boosts her immunity and recently helped her get over a respiratory virus.
29 Nov 2015 . Krasnoyarsk, RUSSIA. Reuters/Ilya Naymushin
Aged from under one year old to 79, the members include school pupils, engineers and retired construction or water utility workers. The club’s spirit of fun includes pouring water on each other when celebrating Polar Bear Day at a zoo in a suburb of Krasnoyarsk, one of Siberia’s largest cities.
“The moment of immersion is a sensation of delight. Afterwards there’s a rush of energy and my entire body feels relaxed,” says Mikhail Sashko, chairman and one of the founders of the club. “My wife says I am crazy.”
6 Nov 2015 . Krasnoyarsk, RUSSIA. Reuters/Ilya Naymushin
Vladimir Khokhlov, 71, a former builder and now a pensioner, dates his passion for swimming in all weathers to a September day in 1990, the year the Cryophile club was founded. While on a fishing trip on the banks of the Yenisei, he got up one morning and felt inspired to jump in the river. He hasn’t stopped since.
“I can’t live without bathing daily in cold water, it’s like a drug,” says Khokhlov, who also works as a caretaker, maintaining ice levels on an outdoor hockey rink. “If there’s no river nearby I have to find another way to pour cold water over myself from head to foot.”
21 Nov 2015 . Krasnoyarsk, RUSSIA. Reuters/Ilya Naymushin
Nikolai Bocharov, 77, started winter swimming while doing military service in Germany. “When I came home from the army, I made an ice hole in the Yenisei and bathed there,” he says.
“I never feel any cold or discomfort and I can stay in cold water for a long time,” he adds. “When I leave the water I feel a prickling sensation all over my body, it feels like I am ready to fly.”
His family and friends struggle to see the appeal of taking a dip in the winter.
“My wife doesn’t understand me and doesn’t share this hobby of mine,” he says. “My friends sneer at me and wait for me to grow wiser.”
21 Nov 2015 . Krasnoyarsk, RUSSIA. Reuters/Ilya Naymushin
For Mikhail Shakov, 23, sporting a traditional ushanka, or ear-hat, winter swimming is a way of disconnecting from daily life and setting his troubles to one side.
“All problems leave me,” says Shakov, who recently finished national service in the army. “The world around me seems beautiful.”