Falling membership prompts Joensuu winter swimming club to pause expansion

Membership and visitor numbers at Joensuun Jääkarhut, a winter swimming club in Joensuu, have fallen this year for the first time in the club’s history, Yle reports.

The club had 3,062 members at the beginning of August, 140 fewer than at the same time last year. The club’s Vehkalahti winter swimming centre had also recorded 11,000 fewer visits than a year earlier by the start of August.

Chairman Jarno Linnolahti said he could not identify a precise reason for the decline. He suggested that people may have less money, but said the change could also be temporary. New winter swimming locations have opened in the Joensuu region in recent years, including at the Ilosaari lagoon and Lykynlampi.

The centre recorded more than 200,000 visits last year, but Linnolahti said it was unlikely to reach the same figure this year.

The club has been planning to expand the centre, but Linnolahti said the project would not be needed if membership continued to fall or failed to grow. The club is instead monitoring membership over a longer period and focusing on renovating its existing facilities.

A zoning amendment linked to the expansion is currently being processed by the City of Joensuu.