Journalism of Courage
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, in air temperatures that can reach minus 30 degrees Celsius or lower. With a small wooden clubhouse on the banks of the Yenisei River, the Cryophile club - named after organisms that thrive in the cold - has about 300 members. Young members of the Cryophile winter swimming club throw snowballs, their trainer to the left, on the banks of the Yenisei River before swimming in Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk. (Photo: Reuters)
Mikhail Sashko, chairman and one of the founders of the Cryophile winter swimmers club looks at a picture taken by Mikhail Shakov (R), as he celebrates his 68th birthday on a bank of the Yenisei River in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia. "The moment of immersion is a sensation of delight. Afterwards there's a rush of energy and my entire body feels relaxed," says Sashko, a director in the construction industry. The air temperature was about minus 27 degrees Celsius. (Photo: Reuters)
Nastya Usachyova, 9, and her mother Natalia, 39, members of the Cryophile winter swimmers club, warm up before swimming in the Yenisei River in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia. "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." Nastya, whose mother Natalia, 39, is a former world champion in winter swimming, first took to the icy water when she was aged two. (Photo: Reuters)
Mikhail Shakov, 23, who recently left the army and is a member of the Cryophile winter swimmers club, swims in the icy water of the Yenisei River on the first day after returning from military service. For Shakov, swimming is a way of disconnecting from daily life and setting his troubles to one side. "All problems leave me," he says. "The world around me seems beautiful. (Photo: Reuters)
Mikhail Shakov (L), 23, greets another member on the banks of the Yenisei River. These swimmers say they, themselves, flourish in air temperatures that often reach 30 degrees Celsius below zero (minus 22 Fahrenheit) or lower in the long months of a Siberian winter. (Photo: Reuters)
Vladimir Khokhlov, 71, a member of the Cryophile winter swimmers club, warms up after bathing in the icy water of the Mana river in Taiga district outside the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia. The air temperature was about minus 5 degrees Celsius. A retired builder, Khokhlov now works as a caretaker in Krasnoyarsk. "I can't live without bathing daily in cold water, it's like a drug," he says. "If there's no river nearby I have to find another way to pour cold water over myself from head to foot." (Photo: Reuters)
Liza Broverman, 6, and her sister Yulia Klimenkova, 16, members of the Cryophile winter swimmers club, bathe in the icy water of the Yenisei River in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Yulia, who has been swimming with the club since she was four, says her friends praise her bravery but balk at taking the plunge themselves. Yulia, whose whole family are also members, says swimming in cold water boosts her health and recently helped her get over a respiratory virus. (Photo: Reuters)
Nikolai Bocharov, 77, rubs snow on his body as he sits on a snowdrift after bathing in the icy water of the Yenisei River in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Bocharov 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. "My wife doesn't understand me and doesn't share this hobby of mine. My friends sneer at me and wait for me to grow wiser. I never feel any cold or discomfort and I can stay in cold water for a long time," he says. "When I leave the water I feel a prickling sensation all over my body, it feels like I am ready to fly." (Photo: Reuters)
Visitors watch as Grigory Broverman, a member of the Cryophile winter swimmers club, pours a bucket of cold water over his 6-year-old daughter Liza during a flash mob, part of a celebration of Polar Bear Day at the Royev Ruchey Zoo in a suburb of the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia. (Photo: Reuters)
Liza Broverman, 6, and her sister Yulia Klimenkova, 16, members of the Cryophile winter swimmers club, play in the snow before bathing in the Yenisei River in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia. (Photo: Reuters)
Mikhail Sashko, chairman and one of the founders of the Cryophile winter swimmers club, bathes in cold water during a flash mob, part of a celebration of Polar Bear Day at the Royev Ruchey Zoo in a suburb of the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia. (Photo: Reuters)
Women follow Mikhail Sashko (L), chairman and one of the founders of the Cryophile winter swimmers club, during a celebration of his 68th birthday in the Yenisei River in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia. (Photo: Reuters)
Vladimir Khokhlov, pours water on an ice hockey rink outside the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Aged from under one year old to 79, the members include school pupils, engineers and retired construction or water utility workers. (Photo: Reuters)
