LUTHERAN QUILTERS – Members of the Quilts for Comfort Group stand between pews draped with some of the 205 quilts they made, in the Sitka Lutheran Church Tuesday. The group made the quilts for five local non-profits and one in Anchorage. The remaining quilts are sent to Lutheran World Relief which distributes them to places around the world in need, such as Ukraine, as part of Personal Care Kits. Pictured are, from left, Helen Cunningham, Kathleen Brandt,Vicki Swanson, Paulla Hardy, Kim Hunter, Linda Swanson and Sue Fleming. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
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Daily Sitka Sentinel
Russians Take a Dip To Honor St. Innocent
By BRIELLE SCHAEFFER
Sentinel Staff Writer
On the beach outside the Sitka Sound Science Center Thursday, a group of hearty visitors from Russia stripped down to their bathing trunks for a ceremonial swim in the ocean.
Father Evgenii Startsev swings a censer during a Panikhida ceremony, “a service for those fallen asleep,” at the Old Sitka historical site this morning. (Sentinel Photo by Reber Stein)
The swimmers, members of the Interregional Cold-Water Swimming Association of Russia, were in Sitka this week on a religious pilgrimage honoring the 220th anniversary of the birth of Ioann Venianimov, the Russian Orthodox missionary who built Sitka’s St. Michael’s Cathedral and was later canonized as St. Innocent.
The swimmers are visiting every place in Alaska where St. Innocent served during his lifetime, said the Rev. Eugene Startsov, the Russian Orthodox priest who is traveling with the group.
“We’re meeting people who share our spirits,” he said through a translator, who also is traveling with the group. “People who are after a healthy way of living who can understand swimming in very cold waters.”
Armed with flags, banners and an icon of St. Innocent, the swimmers gathered on the beach for a blessing by Startsov before entering the 56-degree water. They waded out, holding their banners aloft, and were joined by a number of Sitka swimmers who carried a large American flag.
After a few minutes the swimmers handed their banners off to their support crews who were in kayaks for the 2,000-yard swim.
The Sitka contingent was made up of experienced cold water swimmers, most of whom had swum the same course the previous week in Sitka’s annual open water race. Most wore wet suits, unlike the beefy Russians, who wore only shorts, swim caps and goggles.
“I figured they’d be wearing wetsuits, but they’re pretty tough,” said Hal Spackman, director of the Sitka Historical Society. “That whole cold water swimming is for people who enjoy the invigoration of the frigid waters.”
Spackman was one of a handful of spectators braving heavy rain showers to watch the swimmers from the shore. Some of the viewers were dressed for the occasion in traditional Russian costumes.
Startsov said swimming without wetsuits is a principle of the Russian group. The swimmers train for it, he said.
“They’d get too hot otherwise,” he joked. “They’re resistant to cold.”
The group was excited to finally visit Sitka, the former capital of Russian America, he said.
“We have roots here,” Startsov said. “Sitka is a special place where Russian culture is celebrated and respected. In turn we respect people who live here. It’s a beautiful country which is populated by wonderful people.”
The trip also underscored the importance of human relationships despite the uncertainty of U.S.-Russia relations, he said.
“People still need to be friends and love each other,” Startsov said.
Spackman echoed his sentiment, saying the trip was good for international relations.
“It showed that there’s a universal joy that many people share no matter what our countries are dealing with right now,” he said. “It’s the people who make up those countries. It showed the power of people coming together to celebrate good deeds.”
Although the visit was a sort of mission trip, the group wasn’t proselytizing, and there’s a reason for that Startsov said.
“It’s how St. Innocent advertised his faith, to attract rather than force,” he said. “The whole faith is based on a love for people and respect for them.”
While in Alaska, St. Innocent translated gospels into the Tlingit and Aleut languages to share with Alaska Native people as a way of including them, he explained.
Over the last several years, the swimmers have executed swims at Russian sites with connections to St. Innocent. They call the three-year schedule of cold water swims “The Journey of St. Innocent – Uniting the Continents.”
In 2014, three of them swam from Alaska’s Little Diomede island to Russia’s Big Diomede.
The swimmers also have plans to swim across the Bering Strait and in the Aleutian Islands waters off Dutch Harbor. The St. Innocent icon that is traveling with the group will eventually end up at the Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Anchorage, Startsov said.
During their stay in Sitka the swimmers attended a service at St. Michael’s Cathedral and watched a New Archangel Dancers performance.
At 11 a.m. today they were to swim, carrying torches, from the beach at Old Sitka, site of the first Russian settlement on Baranof Island, and then depart on an afternoon ferry.
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20 YEARS AGO
March 2004
Advertisement: Tea-Licious Tea House & Bakery 315 Lincoln Street Grand Opening! Freshly Baked Scones, Cakes & Pastries Innovative Salads, Soups & Sandwiches Harney & Sons Tea. Lunch * Afternoon Tea * Supper.
50 YEARS AGO
March 1974
Photo caption: National Republican Chairman George Bush takes a drink of water offered by Jan Craddick, Sitka delegate, during the Republican convention held here. Mrs. Craddick explained to Bush that the water was from Indian River, which means, according to local legend, that he will return.