Opening of the Inner Harbour winter swimming area is postponed due to storm

The Finnish Meteorological Institute has issued a wind warning for land and sea areas for the upcoming weekend, 2–3 November. On Sunday, 3 November, wind speeds could reach speeds of up to 30 metres per second in gusts.

– For safety reasons, we need to remove the footbridge leading to the winter swimming area to prevent it from being blown away by the wind. We are also going to anchor the concrete dock with an additional chain. We apologise for the postponement of the winter swimming area opening by a few days, but we cannot take any risks regarding safety, says Jarmo Latvala, Service Manager of the Green Spaces Team.

The winter swimming area was originally scheduled to open on Friday, 1 November. However, the area will now open for winter swimmers next week once the storm has subsided and the footbridge has been reinstated.

– We will announce the new opening date at the beginning of next week, says Latvala.

Floor drains have been installed

The highly popular winter swimming area in the Inner Harbour is open to all and free of charge. After the opening, it will be open every day from 6 to 21.

The winter swimming area is located at the end of Hietasaarenkatu and there are two heated changing rooms: one for men and one for women. In addition, the pier area is equipped with lights and recording surveillance cameras.

The city has purchased the changing rooms, which have now been installed with floor drains.

The winter swimming area, opened in December 2023, open to all and free of charge, was very popular last winter: it attracted more than 10,000 swimmers during the season.