Chilling dedication: Ottawa man keeps cool with daily ice swimming
While most people try to avoid the bitter cold, one man in Ottawa is taking the plunge into icy water.
Tom Heyerdahl, a 61-year-old enthusiast of extreme cold, has been swimming in ice-cold temperatures on a daily basis this winter. At Britannia Beach, he, and a few friends, carved out a 25-meter ice pool.
- Sign up now for daily CTV News Ottawa newsletters
- The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App
"For the last, more than 40 days, every day, we have worked towards and maintained a 25 meter ice pool," Heyerdahl says. "So it's a swimming area that's about a meter and a half wide by 25 meters long."
For Heyerdahl, skipping a day of swimming is simply not an option. "Getting in is mandatory," he says. "Time spent in is negotiable."
Accompanied by fellow swimmers, Heyerdahl's determination is shared by others, like first-time ice dipper Karina Bittelbrunn, who took the plunge despite being nervous.
"I don't know. I'm not thinking. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm just going to go for it," Bittelbrunn said before braving the cold.
She was able to spend nearly two minutes in the water.
"She did great. She did fantastic," says Heyerdahl. "That's not your average first time."
Meanwhile, seasoned ice swimmers like Angelo Ocana and Silke Reichrath love the experience of swimming in freezing temperatures.
"It feels amazing," Ocana says. "Every time I go do it, it's always hard. And I'm like why am I doing this. But then I don't think too much and just do it. And after I feel really good."
Reichrath, who initially intended to pause her swimming routine for the winter, found herself drawn to the dedicated group of year-round swimmers.
"I was swimming in the summer, and I was going to stop for the winter, and then I met these people and they said, 'We keep going year round.' And I said, 'I'll see how long I can keep going,'" says Reichrath.
Heyerdahl says his passion for ice swimming will keep him braving the cold for years to come.
"I am currently the eighth oldest man in the world to have swum an ice mile below five degrees," he said. "And I think the current oldest guy is 66. So, I'll take a shot at it. Who knows?"
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.