About 750 students in the Swedish county of Sollentina are trained on how to behave in the event of falling into an ice hole, and how to get out of it, and groups of them take turns for weeks to jump daily into an ice lake whose water temperature is one degree.
The bitter cold does not deter the 11-year-old student, Elton, from diving fully clothed into the frozen waters of the icy Ravallen Lake in northern Stockholm, amid the applause of his 40 classmates, as part of a training program called “Isfaxofning” (snow hole exercise) in Swedish, reports Al-Rai daily quoting AFP.
These classes are widely spread in the Scandinavian country, and they involve all students in this class, although participation is most often not compulsory.
With his head out of the water, Elton grabs small coins placed around his neck before sticking his head into the ice sheet and pulling out of the lake with the power of his arms.
Many Swedes refuse to go out onto the ice without these coins, as in their absence it is very difficult to climb to the surface of the ice without falling back into the frozen water.
In 2021, according to the Swedish Life Saving Association, 16 people died in Sweden due to drowning in ice, the majority of them elderly, compared to 10 deaths from the same causes in the previous year.
During the exercise, students are fully dressed, with hats, gloves, shoes and backpacks to better simulate real conditions.
“These descents into the icy water, during which many shouts are heard, turn for some into a test of endurance,” says Anders Isakson, a physical education teacher at Växmoraskolan School.
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