What’s been a nuisance for most Britannia residents quickly became quite the opposite for one local group of adrenaline junkies.
In late April, the Ottawa West Ice Dippers went for a frigid dip — not into their usual ice holes, but instead into the flood waters of Britannia Beach.
Due to last month’s heavy rainfall and warm temperatures, the Ottawa River flooded various parts of the city . Among the affected areas was Britannia, where water rose high enough to submerge numerous park benches. But for the Ottawa West Ice Dippers — a Facebook group created mainly to provide status updates on the ice dipping holes at Britannia Beach — there was a glint of opportunity on the river.
“When I saw the flooded waters, I thought, this has to happen,” said Christiane Aitken, a member of the group since January. “I went to try it out on my own, I tried the path along the benches and that was a success for me.”
“Of course, I got weird looks. Then I thought, I’m going to get as big of a group as I can to join me.”
A group of nine ice dippers braved the flooded beach on Apr. 21, just a few days after Ottawans were told to brace for heavy rainfall.
“It was a novelty,” said Aitken. “How often do you have a chance to go cold plunging in flooded waters like that? It was a new exploration and definitely great for pictures and memories. And it was cold.”
For member Ėrik Thuswaldner, the flood plunge was his first experience with the local thrill seekers.
“I went cold plunging in the Atlantic Ocean in the fall, it was a similar temperature,” he said. “They (the Ottawa West Ice Dippers) were very encouraging to have someone come out and have their first plunge in the group.”
Thuswaldner described the Britannia get-together to be like “being a little kid in a wading pool.”
“It’s random people who are just kind of sitting in the water, talking through the pain of wading in two degree water,” he said. “We were just talking about how cold it is.”
A photo of Thuswaldner reading a book while sitting on a half-submerged bench has garnered a lot of attention on Instagram, getting reposted by multiple popular Ottawa accounts.
“It was never intended to go viral and reach the masses,” he said. “It was just a little funny prank to take a funny photo in the moment.”
The social media posts drew in mixed opinions. While some Ottawans appreciated the comedy behind the photo, others voiced concerns about swimming in the Ottawa River.
Laura Reinsborough, CEO of Ottawa Riverkeeper, said there are a lot of misconceptions surrounding the river’s cleanliness.
“The Ottawa River is one of the cleanest capital rivers in the world. (It’s) naturally brown from being rich in tannin,” said Reinsborough. “That’s a bit of myth busting we try to do. When it’s the time of flooding, that will show even stronger because the water is being mixed up even more.”
Reinsborough said safety hazards look different from one season to the next. In terms of flood season, she said risks are more about the physical safety side of swimming rather than the bacteriological side.
“It’s more of the other risks that you need to be careful of: debris, fast flowing current,” she said. “Another precaution to follow is that 24 to 48 hours after a heavy rainfall can bring extra stormwater that can carry other contaminants.”
Reinsborough said that while summer is the most active time for people to swim in the river, it seems cold weather dips are becoming increasingly popular in the capital.
“Kudos to those folks who will go in very cold water,” she said. “It’s beautiful to see people loving and enjoying the river year-round.”
Thuswaldner said he learned about the group’s practices in the winter, when a lane was cut into the ice for swimming ice miles.
Tom Heyerdahl, a local cold water swimmer and admin of the Ottawa West Ice Dippers Facebook group, maintains the ice swim lane at Britannia. He said he saw a man making ice dipping holes at the beach a few years ago, and asked if he could make an ice lane for him to practice in.
“I sat there for three hours in minus 35 degrees watching him make this thing and it blew my mind,” Heyerdahl said. “That whole winter, I kept it open with just an axe. It was the next year when I bought my own saw.”
- Read more — The ice swimmer: Why Tom Heyerdahl carved a 25-metre swim lane in the frozen Ottawa River
Heyerdahl said Britannia’s cold water swimmers and dippers often work together.
“It’s a lot of work,” he said. “The dippers will help us as they can and we’re more than pleased to make it possible for them to dip safely.”
Taking precautions is a shared priority amongst the icy water goers.
“After around two minutes, we encourage people to get out because they think, I could do this forever,” said Heyerdahl. “What we find is people are unaware of how their body is going to react when they get out. I try to prevent people from having a bad experience.”
“When it comes to cold plunging, safety is paramount,” said Aitken. “As long as you go with other people who are experienced, this community in Ottawa is fantastic.”
For Heyerdahl, the greatest benefits of cold water exposure extend beyond just the physical.
“The social aspect I find is one of the biggest,” he said. “People tend to go into a bit of an emotional downcycle during the winter and to get out, to experience the cold — and for my friend and I, cutting open a swim lane — that alone is invigorating. We all support each other.”
“We’re all in the same water.”
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