A dip in an ice-cold Kralingse Plas: ‘I should have put on my socks’

It is just above zero, but the wind makes it feel considerably colder on the beach of the Kralingse Plas on Sunday afternoon. Around one o’clock, twenty students are doing exercises together. They are warming up for the polar bear plunge, a kind of belated New Year’s dive.

The cold water helps you get out of your comfort zone and provides a fresh new outlook, is the idea of the organising student association Extraordinary Life. A few students prefer to enter the water from the pier because they fear sand on their clothes. The others go from the beach. Two minutes later, everyone is back on dry land.

“I see it mainly as a challenge and self-improvement”, says Jaqueline Geihe (Management of International Social Challenges), “but also as part of my training.” She does Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. ‘Self-improvement’ is also a reason for Aidan Brinda (International Bachelor Communication and Media) to join the dive. “It’s extremely cold”, he says afterwards. “I should have gotten my socks.”