A woman takes a dip in icy water during celebrations of the Orthodox Christian feast of Epiphany in Pereslavl-Zalessky, Yaroslavl region, Russia on January 18, 2022. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)
A woman poses for a picture near an ice hole as a man takes a dip during celebrations of the Orthodox Christian feast of Epiphany in the settlement of Ivanovskoye in the Moscow region, Russia on January 19, 2022. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)
An Orthodox child is given an icy dip in a lake in celebration of Epiphan, near the village of Vorontsovka, some 20 km from the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, 19 January 2019. People believe that bathing in blessed waters during the holiday of Epiphany strengthens their spirit and body. (Photo by Igor Kovalenko/EPA/EFE)
A member of a local swimming club holds a Russian national flag as he dives in at the start of a 24-hour swimming marathon near the western Siberian city of Barnaul March 29, 2014. Thirty members of the club will swim in turn during the event, held to mark Crimea becoming part of Russia, local media reported. (Photo by Andrei Kasprishin/Reuters)
Women practice swimming with mermaid tails at AquaMermaid swimming school, a mermaid training school in Chicago, United States on March 19, 2017. Participants are fulfilling their lifelong ambitions of becoming mermaids with a new type of fitness mermaid swimming. (Photo by Bilgin S. Amaz/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Members of team China perform during the Artistic Swimming Team Free Final at the FINA Swimming World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, 19 July 2019. (Photo by Antonio Bat/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)
Members of the ice swimming club “Berliner Seehunde” (Berlin Seals) take a dip in the Orankesee lake as part of their traditional Christmas swimming session in Berlin, Germany, December 25, 2015. (Photo by Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters)
A pilgrim holds up the cross after it was thrown by an Orthodox priest into the water, during an epiphany ceremony to bless the sea, on the southeast resort of Ayia Napa, Cyprus, Friday, January 6, 2023. By tradition, a crucifix is cast into the waters of a lake or river, and it is believed that the person who retrieves it will be freed from evil spirits and will be healthy through the year. (Photo by Petros Karadjias/AP Photo)