Thousands at English Bay take polar plunge on mild New Year's Day
An estimated crowd of 10,000 gathered at English Bay for the annual Polar Bear Swim – but only a couple of thousand brave souls actually took the plunge.
Among those who went ahead with the New Year’s tradition was at least one pair of newlyweds.
"We just got married yesterday,” said the bride, Mahsa Nafisi. “Yes, we definitely wanted to do the polar bear plunge!"
Her new husband was just as excited.
“The wedding day was 12/31/23 (123, 123), so it seemed like a good thing just to go and take a jump,” Branden Cobb said as he shivered on the beach.
The first Polar Bear Swim to take place at English Bay was in 1920, and only about 10 people participated.
Now the event has a festival atmosphere with food trucks, live music and family friendly entertainment taking over the beach all afternoon.
Typically, it’s one of the warmer polar bear swims in Canada, and this year was no exception.
The air temperature was 6 C and it was actually 8 C in the water.
“It’s an annual thing for me. I’ve been coming since 1998,” said Wade Westling, dressed in an Elvis costume. “Eight degrees is cold still. No matter what you say, it’s cold!”
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