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Anthony Sharwood, 16 Feb 2021, 5:13 AM UTC

When skating on thin ice, make sure it's not too thin...

When skating on thin ice, make sure it's not too thin...

They call Amsterdam "The Venice of the North" on account of the network of canals that flow through the most populous and famous city in The Netherlands.

In winter, those canals freeze over semi-regularly, although with average daily mean temperatures of around 3-4 degrees in the winter months, the canals rarely freeze too hard.

One Dutch skater found that out the hard way this week on one of Amsterdam's largest canals, the Keizersgracht (Emperor's Canal).

To be honest, this shirtless showman was asking for some sort of trouble. And that’s exactly what he found, when he hit a patch of ice that was nowhere near strong enough to hold his weight.

In he tumbled, head over heels. Ker-splash! Unperturbed, he almost seemed to enjoy his swim before hauling himself out with a rope and sliding along the ice on his back - as you do on a freezing, snowy Amsterdam day.

Those Bondi and St Kilda swimmers who brave Australia's chilly waters in winter? Wimps compared to this fella. Must be why they call it Dutch courage.

Image: When skating on thin ice is not just a metaphor. Source: Pixabay.

We just hope he went home and warmed up with a traditional Dutch delicacy like French fries and mayonnaise.

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