The coldest snap for decades has killed over 100 in Ukraine. But one kindergarten has found a way for the very young to withstand the biting freeze.
With temperatures falling as low as -36 Celsius, the happily squealing kids take a dip in the freezing snow. Of course, a hot sauna comes first. And hot herbal tea afterwards.“First we warm up, but then run outside for a snow bath,” eagerly explains one of the snow swimmers, Dasha Chelyadina.There are some quite experienced snow swimmers, like five-year-old Dima. He even has a certificate and boasts he has reached the highest level of snow swimming – he does not scream when doing snow washing. “As I snow bathe I do not get sick and I am not afraid of cold,” he confesses.The habit, however, has a long history.“We start in the summer,” explains one of the tutors. ”We go out and pour water over ourselves. First it is the same temperature as inside the rooms. But then we start lowering temperature by two degrees.”The snow bathing makes the children’s parents shiver, however, with only the very few willing to follow.