In many countries of Northern Europe, including Scandinavia, Finland, Northern Russia, and the Baltic states, ice swimming is closely connected with the tradition of sauna, (1)____ has led to the creation of a new activity where stays in the sauna are (2)_____ with quick 'pauses' in ice water. In Russia, ice swimmers are called what can be literally translated as 'walruses '. The north of Europe, (3)_____ , is not the only place where winter swimming is practised regularly. A large ice swimming ...

In many countries of Northern Europe, including Scandinavia, Finland, Northern Russia, and the Baltic states, ice swimming is closely connected with the tradition of sauna, (1)____ has led to the creation of a new activity where stays in the sauna are (2)_____ with quick 'pauses' in ice water. In Russia, ice swimmers are called what can be literally translated as 'walruses '. The north of Europe, (3)_____ , is not the only place where winter swimming is practised regularly. A large ice swimming movement exists in the UK, based in a famous location: the Serpentine Lake in Hyde Park in London. In Harbin, Northern China, about 200,000 people ice-swim in the Songhua River every winter. The oldest ice swimming club in the United States, the Coney Island Polar Bear Club of New York, organises an annual (4)_____ on New Year's Day. In Canada, 'Polar Bear Swims; 'Plunges' or 'Dips' are a New Year's Day tradition in (5) ____-communities as well, the biggest one taking place in Vancouver since 1920.