BASEL, Switzerland (Reuters) -With the temperature set to reach fever pitch in Switzerland when the hosts take on Norway in their opening game at the Women’s Euros on Wednesday, fans spent the afternoon cooling off in the Rhine river as the mercury soared again in Basel.
The Fan Zone featured sprays of water and free sunscreen for fans and many followed the lead of clued-in locals, who were seen packing belongings into buoyant “Wicklefisch” waterproof swim bags before taking a cooling dip in the water.
“Reinschwimmen” (Rhine swimming) is one way to cope. We also have a fountain near our house and sometimes we take a dip in that to cool off, but that’s about all we can do,” Basel resident David Borrowman told Reuters as he and his daughter sat by the river with their bags.
With temperatures of 35 degrees expected on Wednesday, visiting fans were shocked by the intensity of the heat and welcomed the decision by UEFA to allow them to bring half-litre plastic or aluminium bottles into the St Jakob-Park stadium for the game.
“I think that’s very nice, because it’s very important to drink a lot of water, so half a litre of water per person is very nice to get in,” Norway fan Lars Haloersen told Reuters before taking a much-needed cooling dip with his family.
The game between Switzerland and Norway gets under way at 2100 Central European Time (1900GMT).
(Reporting by Cecile Mantovani and Elena Rodriguez; writing by Philip O’Connor; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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