World Sauna Championships

Article by: © Michael J. Rosen 2012

"This Is How Hell Must Feel"

- Sauna Heinola, the organizing body of the World Sauna Championships

The best competitions make leisure into sport, like turning an afternoon of watching flicks into a movie marathon. In Finland, where there are 1.5 million saunas for 5 million people, organizations of World Sauna Championships did just that with the first competition in 1999. Annually, over 160 competitors from nearly 25 countries travel to Heinola, to see who can endure the longest, hottest sauna.

According to the official site, all entrants must assume the same position: sitting erect with buttocks and thighs on the seat, forearms on the knees, and arms upright, with the hands touching no other part of the body. Turns out, a 230-degree Fahrenheit wooden box that grows hotter every 30 seconds as water is poured onto the sauna's stove, can make a person look as if "a waffle iron had been repeatedly pressed" against the skin, as one competitor described it. As heat and steam increase, there's less and less oxygen to breathe: Indeed, it's not the heat, but the humidity that drives competitors from the sauna.

One other competition bylaw: "Disturbing the other competitors in any way is strictly forbidden," although it's tough to imagine anyone making jokes about "not knowing your heinie from Heinola" after 18 minutes and 15 seconds - Finn Bjarne Hermansson's winning time in the 2008 competition.

It's Not the Heat, It's the Stupidity

This customized thermometer, in degrees Fahrenheit, should help you appreciate the heat-seeking nature of these temperature-taunting athletes.

This competition sounds like no sweat? Think again at www.saunaheinola.com.

No Dribbling the Squid

World Sauna Championships Dates, Location and Further Information

The World Sauna Championships take place in August annually in Heinola, Finland.

More World Sauna Championships