Baltic Sea swimming season opens in German

The Baltic Sea swimming season has opened in the German town of Niendorf, and for the first time an elephant was the star of the beach.

Around 150 swimmers ran into the Baltic on Saturday. The traditional "swim up" at the beach has marked the official beginning of the swimming season in the German Baltic for nearly 20 years. The first swimmer to grab a plastic duck placed some distance from the beach won the swimming competition.

This year's event highlight was a female African elephant called Mala, from the Platschow zoo.