(Ice) Swimming in Bergen

By Charlotte Hussey, University of Bergen, Norway

Swimming in all conditions is normal in Norway! Whether on a warm summer day with blue skies or in the middle of winter, having to physically break the ice to get in. I take part in a weekly dip into the fjords across Bergen in different bathing points with a student organisation, ‘SVI Baddegruppen’. With the organisation, we would have sweet treats and every Sunday we would go into the water. Originally I thought we wouldn’t continue through all conditions but we did, even in the snow and ice!

To start with, getting in the water was not that hard! It was sunny and warm outside, although the water was still very cold! We would spend the whole day by the water, getting in for a quick swim then sunbathing. It was very refreshing and a nice way to enjoy the (limited) sun we had! It was very popular as most Norwegian seem to drop everything to be outside the minute it is sunny.

It started to get colder quite quickly, however, as the temperature outside dropped getting into autumn. It is a really nice way to refresh on a Sunday – especially if you’ve had a heavy Saturday night! It is always very fun as it is a good way to meet people and especially Norwegians as we didn’t have any lectures with Norwegians in the first semester so it was one of the only opportunities to meet them. It was a fun way to explore Bergen as well because the swim was at a different bathing spot each week, so we got to learn about places the locals like to visit!

As it moved into winter and got colder and colder, and even now, we definitely went swimming less because of the weather conditions. By the end it was not a whole group of us going but only a couple of us! Even though we no longer go every week, we try to at least go every two weeks and in most cases the weather doesn’t actually stop us! We have gone ‘swimming’ (a dip) in both the ice and the snow. One of the times we even had to break the ice to get into the water as it was really thick ice – the temperature was in the minuses! Even though it was really hard to get in and we felt super cold afterwards, it was definitely worth it considering the benefits you get from doing an ice plunge and simply the experience itself. Even though it is fun going in the winter conditions, I can’t wait now until it is warmer and I can enjoy it a little bit more – it is just more pleasant!

I would really recommend doing this sort of thing whether in Bergen or elsewhere because it is a fun Sunday activity and I believe it has many benefits for your health! Even when you think it is too cold, when you see everyone else doing it, it makes you believe you can too. Overall, it is really fun and can be done in almost any conditions!