Fearless Dippers Embrace Icy Waters for a Bold New Year’s Tradition

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While some individuals opt to spend the initial day of the new year recuperating at home from celebrations, others choose a contrasting path.

In Berlin, daring swimmers greeted the new year through the yearly tradition of ice swimming. Participants from the Berlin Seals club frolicked and moved in the frigid water.

“The enjoyable aspect is that it’s entertaining, invigorating, and it’s simply part of commencing the New Year,” remarked Harold Kraft, a member of the Berlin Seals.

The water temperature hovered at 6°C in the morning, whereas the air temperature was recorded at 4°C.

In Italy, three individuals plunged into the Tiber River from the 18-meter-high Cavour Bridge in Rome on New Year’s Day, maintaining a tradition that has been alive since 1946.

This year’s event commenced with Maurizio Palmulli, who revived the tradition in 1989 and is famously known as ‘Mr. Ok,’ handing the mantle to the seasoned diver Marco Fois, who officially declared his retirement and chose to “retire the swimming suit.”

Fois displayed an impressive leap, preceded by two other divers, Walter Schirra and Simone Carabella.

The trio was rescued from the Tiber’s waters by a group of firefighters stationed just beneath the bridge in a dinghy.

The Netherlands also hosts a highly popular New Year’s Dive at Scheveningen beach in The Hague annually. This event draws around 10,000 participants each year, starting the year with a plunge into the icy North Sea.

This year, however, the traditional Dutch event had to be cancelled due to severe winds. This incident marks only the second cancellation of the event, with the previous occurrence being in 2007 for the same reason.