A Dip In A Cold Dark River

How I Went To Finland And Got An Addiction

Thin ice was crusting along the shoreline of the Kemijoki, the river running through the city of Rovaniemi.

Beyond the shore the river was freezing but flowing freely through the Arctic Circle city, the capital of the Lapland region of Finland, said to be the true home of Santa Claus.

It was evening and, though not yet 7, had been dark for several hours in the absence of the waning Autumn sun of the earth’s far north.

Snow clouds occluded whatever celestial light might have broken through, though city lights on the opposite shore from a nearby change house penetrated the darkness.

What a great night for a swim!

I knew it was coming. My Finnish friend Minna had warned me.

I arrived in Rovaniemi two days earlier and she was already inviting me to perhaps the most challenging counter yet to my normal, warm climate comfort-zone ways of travel.

Minna said dipping yourself into an icy outdoor waterway was a popular activity among Finns.

I was typically wary of something seeming so intuitively crazy, me being the guy who rarely strays far from the equator along the path of my world travels. But I decided to give it a try.

After all, why would I go all this way out of my comfort zone to begin with if unwilling to try what locals like to do? Isn’t that what adventure travel’s all about?

Minna, a college professor of language and communications — who would know better? — said she took the plunge three to five times a week, and that it has positive effects on both mental and physical health.

A small change house sits by the river where you take off all the warm clothing that you so sensibly layered on and don nothing but a bathing suit and knit cap on your skull.

At the end of a short wooden pier attached to the change house was a ladder that let you down into the river.

I’d made up my mind to do this so I didn’t hesitate and quickly clambered down and jumped in.

For a moment I thought for sure that all my internal organs had immediately ceased functioning. But it may have only been my brain registering its protest.

I doggie-paddled around a bit –  probably fewer than 10 seconds – until I was sure my respiratory system had shut down for good.

I reached out for the ladder and kicked desperately once or twice before grabbing hold and pulling my way up onto the dock.

There I had the most wonderful sensation, a bracing clarity of mind all of a sudden and no feeling of cold whatsoever! I think they call it numbness.

My dear friend was so kind as to humor me by saying I stayed in the water longer than most first-timers. I felt ecstatic!

I wanted to record the moment but left my phone in the change house. I hustled back in to get it, brought it back and handed it to Minna who artfully took the photo you see here. I didn’t go all the way back in the water – I wasn’t pressing my luck – and while she took a few shots my legs in the water started stinging ferociously. And I climbed out again.

So that was the end of that. But not the end of the story.

Honestly I felt truly invigorated. Not just for a few hours, but for the next few days. My mind was clear, I slept really well, and my steps had a bounce to them that I hadn’t felt for some time.

Minna warned me in a message that I might get addicted to winter swimming in Finland. To which I responded with an incredulous all-caps LOL!!!

But now – whaddaya know? – I’m planning to try that again!