See Astana residents brave the biting frost by bathing in ice cold river
Saturday morning. The mercury is at -23 degrees Celcius. However, it feels like -35 degrees. No people are walking along the River Yessil Waterfront in such weather. Kazinform's videographer Zhanserik Akhmedin and photo reporter Victor Fedyunin are a little nervous as they are concerned about their equipment and for themselves. They have to work outside for at least two hours while the cold wind is piercing their clothes.
By 11 o'clock, men began gathering. The crowd with shovels and digging bars go down to the ice. A wide staircase leads to the "swimming pool" - their lane of water in the field of ice. Sight to behold how the female winter swimmers with gracefully descend, as if to a royal ball...
The guys are chopping the river ice slowly, discussing the latest news and poking fun at each other. After some time, some of them take the shovels, one catches the ice from the hole, the other throws it out. The eight-meter "swimming pool" is enclosed with a mesh fence, and there is a warning tape between the pillars. By the way, everything here was made in accordance with the safety rules. The internal mesh "cell" is 220 cm under the water surface. There are descents with foam rubber handrails and a rug with "Welcome!" inscription in front of the entrance. One person on duty is ready to help anyone in any unforeseen situation. There is a hard-and-fast rule at the club: no one is allowed to go to the water alone, but only to be accompanied!
"Safety first! There are many people willing to swim in the water-hole, their number increases. We at once explain to all newcomers what they are allowed to do and what absolutely forbidden is. As a reminder, the instructions are attached to the fence around the lane," says Azamat Dokumbayev, Head of Bodrost ("Vivacity") Club.
The current main winter swimmer of the capital started heading the organization last fall. He has also been a winter swimmer not for a long time - since 2015. He says it took two years before his friend finally persuaded him. And then he came, not alone but with his sons. Yerkanat is 13 years old, Daniyar is 10, and Zhantemir is 6. They bathe with pleasure. Moreover, Zhantemir triumphantly shouts: "We are winter swimmers!".
The hole is ready. The most impatient and time-sensitive already hurry to plunge. The "old men" are smiling indulgently: "Let them heat up the water, while we running!".
Warming up is a must-do part of the program. For onlookers gathering near the hole in any weather to see the "geeks" of Astana with their own eyes, it is a sign that the show begins. The winter swimmers themselves only laugh. And if at first, they asked not to video them, now they are offering to join them and experience everything on their own.
"In December 2017, our run made much noise on the Internet. We ran together 2 kilometers, airing it live on Facebook. The media made the news, which immediately gained thousands of views in a matter of hours. There is nothing unusual. Running bare-chested and with shorts on in winter is a tradition of our winter swimmers," Dokumbayev says smiling.
One after another, the winter swimmers come out of the building for the warm-up. The female winter swimmers come a little later, they set the table for tea drinking, which is a must.
After short warm-up activities to cheerful music, the friendly team runs to the park to make their muscles work and to amaze passersby. After horizontal hanging on the bars, they come back.
"I came to Astana from Riga two years ago. The windows of my apartment are opposite to the city beach. I remember how I saw people bathing in the river in the late autumn and immediately understood: ‘I want to do it the same way!' My brother is also engaged in winter swimming. He bathes in the Baltic Sea. But, I had never tried to do it before Astana," said Zigmars Brunavs, a representative of the Latvian Embassy in Kazakhstan.
He skis along his way to the hole. And, in spite of the fact that the Latvians have a different system of cold-water bathing, Zigmars fell in love with the Astana style - to swim and then to fully plunge into the water for several times.
This is the way most of the capital winter swimmers bathe. There are also experienced ones. For instance, Galina Vassilyeva, without whom it is difficult to imagine Bodrost Club, has been an instructor for many years. 
"How many rookies have I given dips?" I have lost count, many of them are kids and adults ... I have been practicing winter swimming for 18 years. I do not remember when the last time I was seriously ill was. However, winter swimming is wonderful not only because of that. It gives us happiness. there is scientific evidence for this. Endorphins, the so-called happiness hormones, are released into the bloodstream. At once, the attitude towards life, towards others, changes, while bad thoughts disappear and problems are overshadowed. I know it for myself. I cannot miss bathing. For me, it is vital as air or food," Galina smiles, plunging into the water.
Looking at her and her fiery-red hair that sparkle in the sun and is reflected in the water, one can't help but recall mermaids. By the way, she is called as the main mermaid of Astana.
However, it is not only Galina who amazes and delights. We can name for long. Svetlana Borisenko and Tatyiana Nechepurenko, after jogging and bathing in the water, then bathe in the snow! Vladimir Potlog runs bare-chested at winter marathons. Another marathon runner Mazhit Serikov successfully combines cycling and running with bathing in the ice-hole. Talgat Kalykov, who likes underwater swimming, intends to become the first Ironman at the club.
"I have been practicing winter bathing for 10 years. I have forgotten about pills or consulting the doctor. I go to the lane as if it is a holiday. Here, there is encouraging cold water and like-minded people, who boost my spirits and motivate me," says Talgat.
Speaking about motivation, Talgat is right for sure. People seldom remain indifferent when they see five-year-old swimming children or 80-year-old Mels Moldagaliyev, who got addicted to cold water showering almost half a century ago. Mr. Mels, perhaps, the most impressive motivator, looks 25 years younger than he is. He is in good shape and many young people will envy his muscles and endurance.
It was Mels who inspired the author of these lines to swim in the lane three years ago. In January 2016, after returning from an international festival in Poland, I went for an interview with the winter swimmers at the instruction of Kazinform. We talked, watched photos and videos. They offered me to try to do it myself. It was 25 degrees below zero. The first time I made three complete plunges - they say that not all rookies are capable of it. I did not notice how I got used to it. Over time, I found my own "recipe" of happiness - walking barefoot in the snow, plunging into the ice-hole for three times, rubbing snow and "tanning" in the meantime...
The winter swimmers' small building, which appeared in 2016 thanks to a well-known construction company, is divided into women's and men's changing rooms, a storeroom, and a common room. During the "rush hour", it is not overcrowded. Some go out, others come in. But, they all together certainly drink tea (black, green, herbal) with honey, jam or sweets. While talking, one doesn't notice how it gets warm, easy and cozy.
Bodrost Club of winter swimmers has been existed in Astana since the 1970s. Presently, it has the status of a non-profit association with more than 100 members. About 70 of them try not to miss a single chance to bathe. The age of Astana winter swimmers is from 5 to 80 years old. The club is open to everyone at weekends from 11 to 14 a.m. It is located at the Yessil River Waterfront at the Central Park (between the Amphitheater and Demalys Cafe).
