Spine Chilling Tales!

I've gotten a couple of notes asking me if I did the Polar Bear Swim in White Rock again this year. The answer is, of course! My old friend (it's not that either of us is so old, per se, it's that we've known each other for coming up to 40 years) David and I hit the beach January 1st with several hundred other lunatics for White Rock's Polar Bear Swim.

David seems nonplussed. Weakling!

I, on the other hand, have all the confidence in the world . . . for now

Air temperature was about 7°C (46°F)—pretty warm for January 1st. However, there was a stiff breeze pulling chop off the tops of the waves, and water temperature was only 4°C (36°F), just about the lowest temperature before fresh water forms ice crystals. Ulp!

There were around 350 people there, although I didn't hear official figures.

Check out the wave action. Lady in blue is consulting her cardiologist. Boy on left is hugging mommy.

After a long wait in the teeth of the wind we finally got the countdown and sprinted in. For a charming (and local-booster type) look at the wacky action, check out this video

Yes, I'm in there. I think I just don't show up on film.

After the mad scramble and the water that felt like knives of ice to our viscera, we stumbled out into the waiting arms of the new year.

'Hey, I feel great!'

'Help, I can't feel my anything!'

Afterwards David and I repaired to my hot tub (actually a kiddie pool filled with water the temperature of a cup of scalding coffee) and soaked up Bourbon until our veins would support the flow of liquid blood. It's a real advantage living only a few hundred metres from the beach—other folks had to drag their hypothermic carcasses through parking lots and back to Surrey and Langley!

David and I agreed: the best thing about taking part in the Polar Bear swim is that whatever else, few things in the upcoming year will be as singularly painful as the first few moments of January First.

Posted by Timski AT 3:18PM 2 Comments Comments Post A Comment Post A Comment Email Email

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