Participants of the 2018 Winter Swimming World Championships, held in the Tallinn Harbour, competed in several categories, all of which involved plunging into freezing water. Afterwards, a portable ‘banya’ sauna was waiting to thaw swimmers.

Jon Cardwell is a photographer from London. It was not his first time attending the Winter Swimming World Championships. The strange sport first grabbed his attention back in 2014 when he travelled to Rovaniemi, Finland to capture portraits of the steel-nerved participants.