It’s not every winter we get to see snow in Metro Vancouver. It’s even more rare to see people plunging into it while wearing nothing but speedos.
But that’s exactly what six first-year Simon Fraser University (SFU) students, who are all part of the university’s swimming team, did on Monday during the first major snowfall since February 2014.
In the video posted on the university’s Facebook page, the swimmers can be seen running out onto a field at the Burnaby campus wearing their swimming gear, caps and goggles. They then end up dropping into the snow for a team medley, showing off their backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly skills.
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Rolando Hernandez, a first-year business student originally from Mexico, says it was originally planned as a team-bonding activity.
“It was really fun. It felt really cold at the end. At first, it was too much of a thrill,” Hernandez said.
He says after the bone-chilling swim, the team headed back to their student residence for a hot shower and beverage.
At the time of publication, the video got over 180,000 views and 2,500 shares, something, Hernandez says, they never expected to happen.
More snow is expected in the next couple of days. Global BC meteorologist Mark Madryga says two to four centimetres are expected overnight and into Friday morning. Madryga says another five to 15 centimetres could fall in Metro Vancouver throughout Friday.
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Hernandez says while it’s tempting for the team to get back together for an encore swim when new snow falls, they will have to re-evaluate on the day of.