Swimming in winter is a fun activity where people swim outside when it is very cold. Often, they swim in places like lakes or outdoor pools that are not warm. In some countries, the water is so cold that there is ice on top! To swim, people have to make a hole in the ice. This kind of swimming is very popular in many places, like the Nordic countries and Eastern Europe. It is often part of special winter festivals and celebrations, like the Epiphany. There are swimming races in the winter, too, where people compete in very cold water. Swimmers usually wear normal swimsuits and not special suits that keep them warm. Some swimmers are famous for swimming in ice-cold water, like Lynne Cox and Lewis Gordon Pugh. In North America and Europe, people also do a "polar bear plunge" to celebrate New Year's Day. They jump into cold water, but they don't swim for a long time. There are big swimming competitions in cold water all over the world. Swimmers wear swimsuits, goggles, and swim caps – but nothing that keeps them too warm. To swim in places with ice, sometimes a machine moves the water to stop ice from forming in the hole. Or they cover the hole to keep it from freezing. Sometimes, there is even a warm path from where you change into your swimsuit to the ice hole, so you don't get too cold on your way to swim!

Every winter, a big celebration called the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival happens in Harbin, a city in China. It's the biggest festival of its kind in the world. People build huge ice sculptures that light up at night. The celebration starts in late December and ends in late February. Visitors can see these ice sculptures across the city, but there are two main spots to see them. One is Sun Island, where you can look at big snow sculptures. The other is the Ice and Snow World. Here, people can walk through a place made of ice blocks from the river and lit beautifully. The place is very big, almost as big as 80 soccer fields! People from all over the world come to the festival which makes a lot of money. Besides looking at ice sculptures, there are other fun winter things to do. People can go skiing, swim in a cold river, and see ice lanterns in a garden. Harbin is a very cold place because of the wind from Siberia. In the summer, it's warm, but in the winter, it can get very, very cold, even colder than a freezer! This big ice and snow party started a long time ago with a local tradition of making ice lanterns. Now, it's a place where everyone can enjoy winter's beauty.

Ross Edgley is a famous sportsman and writer. He was the first person to swim all around Great Britain. It took him 157 days to swim 1,780 miles in 2018. People really liked what he did, and he even won an award for it. Ross wrote three books about how to be strong and healthy, and lots of people liked them too. Ross was born in a town called Grantham. His dad taught tennis and his mom was a fast runner. Ross played many sports, like football and tennis, but he liked swimming and water polo best. He was really good at them and got to play for his country. He also got to study sports at a university because he was so good. Later, he stopped playing to swim in the sea for a long time. A university was very proud of his work, so they gave him a special award. Now, Ross helps other people learn about sports and staying strong.