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A friend and I went swimming in the middle of april. The water temperature was circa 6-7 degrees celsius, and the air around 13 degrees.

We ran into the water and dove head first, which feels like getting punched in the face. Wonderful.

The next week we increased the number of times we had to run into the lake by one. When we got up to 6 or 7 times there was nothing special to it anymore - the temperature had gone up to almost 20 degrees. But the second and third time were great. When you got out of the water for the last time you couldn't feel your hands or feet anymore at the same time as you could feel the blood rushing to your head.

Conclusion: Try it out, and if you have the opportunity, try it earlier in the year. We couldn't because the ice was covering the lake just one week prior to our swim.

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