People from the Walrus Tribe 

2024

Every weekend, from late autumn to early spring, people of different ages and professions gather on the Volga River embankment. Leaving bags of clothes and thermoses of tea, they cut the ice floes and go into the water. Snow and wind are not a hindrance, but only an additional incentive not to stop! Everyone has their own time spent in the cold water, some swim breaststroke, some dive head first and come out. I always see smiles on their faces. Men and women, they have been winter swimming for many years and their ranks are growing. They even came up with a ritual of exercises after swimming for inhaling and exhaling, and this has become an interesting spectacle for the townspeople. Crowds of onlookers watch the swimmers from the parapet. As a person who is always freezing, I cannot imagine how one can overcome the fear of the cold. And watching people swimming in winter, I tried to understand and answer the question, why do they do it? What is the basis for their sincere belief in the healing properties of winter swimming, they fearlessly enter the water, the temperature of which is +4, swim and smile. Having received an excess of dopamine and adrenaline, they happily run home. Overcoming themselves, each time taking a step into the unbearably cold water, pushing apart the ice floes, they want to experience the feeling of happiness again and again! Or prove to yourself that you can do something incredible and overcome your inner fear? Communicating with walruses throughout the winter, I realized that collective walrus swimming, ideological synchronicity and common faith make them happy people. One of the “oldest” walruses, Lady Valentina, has been engaged in walrus swimming for 17 years. Always in a good mood, she considers walrus swimming “a cure for all troubles”)