Braving the Chill: Hundreds Take a Dip in Ice-Cold Balaton on New Year’s Day

Hungary Today 2024.01.02.

A traditional New Year’s dip was held on Monday in Szigliget, where over five hundred people took a splash in the icy waters of Lake Balaton.

The organizers had put on their swimsuits on December 24 to bring a decorated Christmas tree into the lake, and the participants had to race to get it out of the freezing water.

Fact

Swimming in freezing water is a tradition in many parts of the world. In Poland, it dates back to the 16th century, when Wojciech Oczko, the physician to Kings Stephen Báthory and Sigismund Vasa III, published a work, Cieplice, which contained contemporary water therapies. The oldest registered Polish association of winter swimming enthusiasts was found in 1975 in Gdańsk. Dipping in icy water is also a tradition connected to celebrating Epiphany in the Orthodox Church.

The event was open to anyone who had been cleared by a local physician. The lifeguards had already issued a warning on New Year’s Eve that people should only take part in such activities on shores with a high level of medical services.

People who came to the beach at Szigliget were comforted by the mild, sunny weather on the first day of 2024, helping them splash in the three to four degree lake.

Via Index; Featured Image: Facebook / Nyugat-Balatoni magazin

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