A mist hangs over Kempenfelt Bay on a bitterly cold and sunny Sunday morning in Barrie.
There are a few hardy souls out for a stroll along the waterfront.
Glancing toward Centennial Beach, there appears to be someone resting in the frigid water.
"How is the water?" asks someone.
"Cold," he responds, in what has to be the most obvious answer of the young day.
With a wind chill around minus 24, Anatoli Gourouchkine keeps his hands out of the water and his eyes closed as he blocks the sounds around him.
There is no splashy entrance and exit.
Gourouchkine remains in the water for six minutes.
Kempenfelt Bay is a chilly body of water even on the warmest of summer days, so why take a frigid plunge in December?
"I get asked that question a lot," laughs Gourouchkine.
The 38-year-old said he had seen people in the water at Centennial Beach in the winter before and thought he would try it.
"I started in October last year and it wasn't so cold yet, and we just gradually got into winter," Gourouchkine explains, as he towels himself off standing barefoot on the shoreline. "I decided to try it out and see how it was going to go."
Preparation for a chilly plunge is all mental, he says.
"I just go with it, personally. You just go with the flow and really not try to think of anything else."
Gourouchkine tries for a morning swim every day, in all weather and in all seasons.
The frigid dips have made a difference, he says, pointing out that he often feels more calm.
If the water is frozen near the shoreline, Gourouchkine says someone will cut a hole in the ice so hardy swimmers have an entry point.
He emphasizes that he isn't the only one who dares to dip their toes in the cold water during winter. On Saturday morning, he says a large group of swimmers gather at Centennial Beach to do the same thing.
"If you want to stop by, you will see this."
