As it Happened: The Archive Edition - The Finnish Episode

It is a sport born of Finland's talent for cross-country skiing and it's love for, but not as much talent at, soccer.

Swamp soccer was created by combining soccer with the summer season cross-country skier's exercise of training  in swamps.

Kyhälä Kimmo was the organizer of the World Swamp Soccer Championships held in Hyrynsalmi, Finland in 2010. Speaking with As it Happens guest host Helen Mann, he acknowledges that the swamp makes it hard to run. Or move. Or play.

"Some fields are very soft," explains Kimmo. He says that some areas in the fields were one metre deep with mud, while others were easier to shuffle through, with only 30 centimetres of mud on the surface.

Kimmo says that although the sport is tough, it's not impossible.

"The best have the good spirit, and if you have long legs like a moose, and a very thin body, then you are going faster."

One major drawback with swamp soccer, aside from the inability to move easily, is the number of soccer shoes lost to the suction of the mud.

"This year we have ten big bags of football shoes. Four hundred, five hundred shoes we find every year," says Kimmo.

Lost clothing is also a risk of playing the sport.

"Last year there was one lady who was sinking in the swamp," says Kimmo, "and then the friends pulled her out and all of her clothes [were left] in the swamp. So it can happen."

Despite the drawbacks, Kimmo says it's a fun sport for all competitors.

"They love it."

You can hear our interview with Kyhälä Kimmo, as well as these stories on The Finnish Episode:

The Finnish Men's Shouting Choir performs a lullaby.

St. Urho gets his day.

Reindeer are given reflective collars to protect them from getting hit by cars.

The Finnish Sauna Society defends the sanctity of the traditional sauna.

Eddie the Eagle discusses his time spent training in Finland.