Many of us like the occasional swim, but would balk at the thought of swimming in the sea once it starts to turn colder. Imagine instead, submerging yourself in water at sub zero temperatures and competing against other individuals. Welcome to the world of Winter Swimming. We asked Jack Bright, a leading winter swimmer in the Czech Republic to provide us a small insight:
Jack: Winter swimming isn’t only crazy people taking a short dip at Christmas time. It is an exciting,exhilarating and extreme sport and provided you follow a few guidelines almost any healthy person can participate. You see once you have acclimatised and can understand not only your own body but the power of nature a little more, it really is all down to the personal psyche of the individual. When you know what it feels like to swim in near freezing water there is a certain amount of will required to get into the water each time, particularly when also facing sub zero air temperatures.
Luckily here in the Czech Republic winter swimming is highly organised, with weekly races and an ongoing cup competition that starts in October and finshes in April. The complicated yet excellent rules are the foundation for the tremendous organisation of the sport.
Take a look at my website www.extremewinterswimming.com there is an excellent article that talks about tried and tested ways of starting with this sport.
The main things to remember are respect your own body as well as nature, take things step by step and finally less is better rather than trying to take on too much at once.
Winter Swimming is a tough and challenging sport and it is important that if you want to try it you understand the risks and the training necessary. Keep an eye out in the future for an exclusive article on body conditioning and the requirements if you want to give winter swimming a go.
Jack has also produced an excellent promotional trailer for the sport which you can find here:
In 1954, “Underwater Hockey” was created with the name ‘Octopush’ by British SCUBA divers looking to stay in shape during the winter months. The puck is named the “squid”, and is pushed around by 2 x 6-player teams (no goalie), who have a “pusher” (1 foot stick), fins, mask, snorkel & a protective glove… it must slide along the bottom of the pool or be subject to a foul. Players have to judge when to bob up and down to the bottom of the pool, how to make best use of their breathing, so unlike many sports, smaller players tend to have an advantage.
Take one crane, some kind of board, a parachute, and someone slightly mad, and you get the above!! Want to find something a little closer to home, and maybe a little less dangerous: check out SFDO’s UK activities.
Last year, we wrote an entry on Cheese Rolling, the annual event in Gloucestershire, and was returning to write some more information about this year’s event. How disappointing to realise that the event was cancelled due to Health & Safety concerns. Original fears that this was permanent closure were unfounded, but the Police and County Council have simply advised the organisers that significant changes needed to be made, and so the event is expected to return next year, albeit in a revised form. You can comment on the decision on the organiser’s blog here. It’ll be interesting to see how they deal with the ‘unofficial event‘ that seems to be in planning!
Discuss: Have you ever partaken in this activity, as a competitor or spectator? What was your experience? What changes should be made/avoided?
Earlier we mentioned ‘The Eddie‘, and looking back, found an awesome clip on YouTube… look how lazy those surfers are – being towed out on a jetski (ha ha), and see how proud they are of their mashed-up surfboards!! Want something a little more gentle – look out for the surf hotspots in the UK.
Are they mad? Skiing off a building into a car park (well, that’s just a couple of them) – some interesting sound effects, and some crazy stuff going on!
In looking for an image to use in a revision session “final checks”, I came across an image hosted within this blog entry, covering the 2009 “Extreme Underwater Backgammon” competition. I’m guessing it’s good practice for buoyancy… but the original rationale was that it was too hot above water, so it was more refreshing to play underneath. If you’re particularly looking to add that twist of adrenalin, try the “extreme rules”:
“Underwater backgammon rules include a single tank per player rule and as a twist for adrenaline junkies (just to make things real interesting), only buddy breathing is allowed, meaning no own air in the final decision-game. Here, it’s “do-or-die”, as one tank is given to both players and a single octopus is shared between moves. The two finalists do not have access to any air until their move is completed. So players must think fast, …and play faster.”
Thanks to Wikipedia: “A “trebuchet” A trebuchet or trebucket is a siege engine that was employed in the Middle Ages either to smash masonry walls or to throw projectiles over them. It is sometimes called a “counterweight trebuchet” or “counterpoise trebuchet” in order to distinguish it from an earlier weapon that has come to be called the “traction trebuchet”, the original version with pulling men instead of a counterweight.”
Extreme Ironing is such a well-established sport that it has its own Wikipedia entry, and quite an extensive one at that… but I’m guessing that the ironing is not really the objective of this sport, as we see men ironing shirts under waterfalls, etc. (I’m not being sexist, but in very few of these are there women)!
Extreme Ironing was invented in Leicester in 1997, then going global, with the first Extreme Ironing World Championships being held in Munich 2002. The sport combines “the thrill of extreme outdoor activity – rock climbing, mountaineering, canoeing, scuba diving or surfing – with the satisfaction of well-pressed clothing. Participants of the sport are known as ironists and pride themselves on returning to work on Monday morning in a shirt which was ironed at the weekend whilst dangling from a rock face or riding the rapids.” Phil Shaw, the sport’s founding father.
I’m not sure if the website is working, but if you can read German, try here – I can’t, but I think the photos give it away!
“Born in 1962, Alain Robert is the world’s most accomplished urban climber. He has scaled more than 85 buildings around the globe including the Eiffel Tower – 314m (1,027 ft), the Sydney Tower – 319m (1,047 ft), the Petronas Twin Towers – 452m (1,488 ft) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sears Tower Chicago – 443m (1,453 ft) and Taipei 101 – 508 m (1,667 ft).
Robert began climbing as a young boy, scaling rock cliffs in the area around his home. His ‘buildering’ career began at the age of 12 when he forgot his keys and was locked out of his parents’ eighth-floor apartment. Instead of waiting for them to return home, he simply scaled the exterior wall…”
“Crawford was chairskating, an extreme sport he invented with fellow chairskater Mitch Vernon. Like all great ideas, chairskating was mostly born out of boredom.
Besides chairskating, the two dabble in other extreme sports including skateboarding and building climbing.
“Any kind of extreme, crazy sport we can get our hands on,” Vernon said.
Chairskating requires four things: a skateboard, a flat surface (preferably a decline and off campus), a suitably awesome chair to sit on top of said board, and a willingness to throw it all together and go for a sweet ride.”
“We’ve all heard of extreme ironing, furniture racing and lawnmower racing, but very few people actually follow these sports and tournaments. This, however, doesn’t mean that games like these don’t appeal; it’s just a matter of finding out who, other than the competitors partaking in the real world events, would be interested in flinging cheese or launching tuna across a field. And you’d be right in thinking this selection of games would appeal to kids more than anyone else, and being on the Wii platform, it makes sense.”
Read more from Tamer Asfahani, on his opinion of the games, including furniture racing, tuna tossing, cheese rolling, lawn mower racing, ice golf, mud sliding, fierljeppen, extreme ironing, log cutting and card boxing!
Participants in extreme sports such as parkour, off-course snowboarding and motocross risk life and limb to seemingly defy gravity. Witness their stunning feats in these online videos.
Parkour and the Art of Getting There
Resembling the moves seen in action movies, parkour requires participants to make creative use of their surroundings to get to their destination as swiftly as possible. A combination of running, climbing and jumping, parkour is an incredible test of strength, endurance and discipline that has become more mainstream in recent years. An official definition of parkour refers to it as “gett[ing] somewhere using the most effective movements with the least loss of momentum.” Watch a tribute to parkour from YouTube, and see more videos!
“They used to be known as Hollyoaks’ Max and OB, but since leaving the soap actors Matt Littler and Darren Jeffries have been taking on some andrenalin-packed adventures.
The pair have just spent three months travelling the world filming Red Bull Rivals, an extreme sports show where they take on a different challenge each week.
They even roped in some celebrity mates to get in on the action and say they picked up some inevitable injuries.”
“They used to be known as Hollyoaks’ Max and OB, but since leaving the soap actors Matt Littler and Darren Jeffries have been taking on some andrenalin-packed adventures.
The pair have just spent three months travelling the world filming Red Bull Rivals, an extreme sports show where they take on a different challenge each week.
They even roped in some celebrity mates to get in on the action and say they picked up some inevitable injuries.”
I am loving this advert from Audi A4… not too much of a car in sight! Awesomely clever advert, with a skier zooming through the streets of San Francisco, kicking up gravel rather than powder… wonder if anything like that would ever be possible for real!
Both Yaz and Bex have labelled Cheese Rolling as the craziest sport they can think of, so what does it really involve? Here’s a video from the 2009 competition (and why is that man wearing a THONG?!)… just look at the constant waves of people throwing themselves down an almost vertical hill: The slope has a gradient that is in places 1-in-2 and in others 1-in-1, its surface is very rough and uneven and it is almost impossible to remain on foot for the descent!
The event has run for over 200 years, and even merits its own Wikipedia entry (there’s fame for you), which notes a number of TV programmes which have featured the event, and brought it to it’s current heights of fame. If you’re planning on entering for 2010, start thinking about it now, as the next event is Monday 31st May 2010 – First race 12:00 Midday.
Extreme Ironing was invented in Leicester in 1997, then going global, with the first 
“We’ve all heard of extreme ironing, furniture racing and lawnmower racing, but very few people actually follow these sports and tournaments. This, however, doesn’t mean that games like these don’t appeal; it’s just a matter of finding out who, other than the competitors partaking in the real world events, would be interested in flinging cheese or launching tuna across a field. And you’d be right in thinking this selection of games would appeal to kids more than anyone else, and being on the Wii platform, it makes sense.”
