2010 Sauna Championship

How long can you take 110-degree, steaming heat in nothing but your bathing suit? 

• 2010 Sauna Championship.

• World champions in sauna in 2009 withstood 18 minutes and 15 seconds in the sauna. More impressive was that the contest organizers poured a about two tall glasses of water on the stove every minute, and this, of course, turned instantly to hot, sweat producing steam.

• The reigning male world champion is Finnish, and a Russian girl outlasted the wet heat to grasp top place in last year's final competition.

• In late May, the Swedish subsidiary of the Finland-based home articles store, K-rauta, arranged this year's national semi-finals in sauna in Eskilstuna, Sweden, and winners from there are being sent to compete in the world championships in Heinola, Finland. Reflecting a gender separation that is not always the case in ordinary saunas, the contest was divided into male and female categories.

• Contestants were also required to wear swim suits, and this stipulation totally violates sauna bathing practices throughout Scandinavia. "I don't think that I could do a minute myself in 110 degrees heat with scalding steam," admitted the retailer's female marketing director.

• For more info on the sauna championships, see: www.saunaheinola.com

• Here's a humorous piece we published in Nordic Reach by San Francisco based contributor Joshua Davis, who participated in the event but isn't likely to do it again: http://www.nordicreach.com/its_about/lifestyle/100/