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Tony Gentle / Reuters
Marco Fois of Italy dives into the Tiber River from the Cavour bridge, as part of traditional New Year celebrations in Rome Sunday.
Thousands of people across Europe celebrated the arrival of the New Year by jumping into chilly seas, rivers and lakes Sunday.
In Italy, several people dived into the River Tiber in a New Year's tradition that stretches back to 1946.
In Netherlands, thousands of people were said to have run into the icy waters of the North Sea near The Hague.
Peter Dejong / AP
Despite temperatures of around 52 degrees Fahrenheit, thousands of people celebrate the New Year by running into the North Sea at Scheveningen, near The Hague, Netherlands.
Further north in Scotland, scores of people took part in the annual "Loony Dook" (which roughly translates as mad dive or "ducking" in the water) event in the Firth of Forth, an estuary leading to the North Sea.
Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images
New Year revelers, many in fancy dress, braved freezing conditions in the River Forth in front of the Forth Rail Bridge during the annual "Loony Dook" swim Sunday.
And in Germany, New Year's day swimmers in a Berlin lake included a group known as the "Berlin Seals."
Maurizio Gambarini / AFP - Getty Images
A winter bather of the "Berlin Seals" poses in near-freezing water of the Orankesee lake during a New Year's swimming event Sunday.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Leave a Comment:
now why would any sane person want to submerge themselves in frigid water on new years day----hmmmmm --alcohol maybe. HAPPY NEW YEAR you crazy kids!
BRRRR!! I got chilly just reading this!
never mind the cold water. I see some dangerous high diving....neck breaking anyone?
Yeah, that was incredibly high. I wonder where that was, and the outcome.
Wow, are people great or what no matter what country they live in. These people show a joy of life and the hope the New Year brings.
It also reminds us to never let the child in you ever abandon you.
Nut jobs. It probably is really good for a hangover tho.
We call it the Polar Plunge, and the water is actually warmer than the outside temperature.
You should try it sometime! It's refreshing!
The first dip is shocking, but if you stay in the water for a short while, your body acclimates to it. Most people make the mistake of jumping in, then getting out right away.
If you can bear it (get it, 'bear'), stay submerged for about a minute.
The only way I'm going swimming at New Years is if I'm in Australia.
When we were shuttling from our cruise ship to ports in Alaska or Antarctica the announcement was that if anyone accidentally ended up in the water he wouldn’t last more than three minutes. How is it that there haven’t been such deaths by those revelers? Somebody was lying to us?