(18 Jan 2006) SHOTLIST
1. Long shot of Kremlin
2. Kremlin clock tower
3. Wide pan of frozen lake
4. Priest consecrating water in the lake
5. Crucifix and candle
6. Man making three dips in the water: in the name of the father, the son and the holy spirit
7. Woman getting into the water
8. Chapel made of ice
9. Woman getting into the water
10. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Ludmila Shcherbakova, Swimmer:
"You shouldn't be afraid of cold water, of fresh air and of leading a healthy lifestyle."
11. Woman exercising in the snow
12. Ambulance on standby
STORYLINE
Russian Orthodox believers went for a traditional dip in the freezing waters of the Moscow River on Wednesday to celebrate the Epiphany, which marks the baptism of Christ by John the Baptist in the River Jordan.
The Russian Orthodox church celebrates the Epiphany on January 19, 13 days later than in Western churches, because most Orthodox churches still calculate the church year according to the Julian calendar.
Conditions were far from ideal for the swimmers - temperatures in the Russian capital had dropped overnight to -30 degrees Celcius (-22 degrees Fahrenheit).
But one of the swimmers told AP Television News that she hoped her lap in the icy river would demonstrate that the cold was nothing to be scared of, pointing out that the water temperature was warmer than the air temperature.
Swimming in icy rivers is a long-observed Russian tradition and those who brave it are nicknamed "walruses".
A further decline in the winter temperatures was expected on Thursday and Friday.
Two people died of hypothermia over the previous 24 hours in the capital, bringing the toll this winter to 109.
12 people also died of exposure in the Nizhny Novgorod region, east of Moscow, over the same period.
In the Volgograd region, which is about 900 kilometres (550 miles) southeast of Moscow, 10 people died of exposure and schools were shut.
keyword wacky
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