Only the toughest and bravest showed up in Gibsons and Davis Bay for simultaneous Polar Bear Swims on a miraculously clear New Years Day, last Thursday, Jan. 1.
Eighty-five participants registered in Davis Bay while roughly 40 registered in Gibsons, although organizers said that many more jumped in the water without registering.
The Davis Bay swim was hosted by the Sunshine Coast Lions Club (SCLC) while the Gibsons swim was hosted by the Gibsons unit of Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue (RCM-SAR)
“It was really cold, but it’s so much fun and it’s such a great experience,” said Kiera Lecian, who placed first in the teen category at the Davis Bay swim. “It really kicks off the New Year.”
A few registered attendees came from as far away as Idaho, the Prairies and even Germany.
Petra Kos came out “just because it was happening. I’ve been here for four years and I haven’t had a chance to do it yet,” said Kos. “This was a good time. I flew all the way out from Nanaimo to be here.”
Coaster Peter Toews, who placed third in the seniors’ category, said he had to go through with it after he told his friends he would be participating.
In Davis Bay swimmers could choose to race out to a buoy and then back to shore. Top three winners in each of four categories received gift certificates donated by local businesses.
RCM-SAR station leader Dave Cudlipp said that in the three years that Gibsons has been hosting the swim they have not had any problems. But swimming in the ocean in January does present a risk to anyone with heart problems. Although the risk of hypothermia is there, it’s mostly about the shock of entering cold water, he said.
“Worst of all is people who come in hungover or still drunk from the night before,” Cudlipp said. “Anybody who has alcohol in their system, their blood is thinned, so it makes it even more likely [for them] to get hypothermia, or do something silly, like stay in too long.”
Still, there were no problems this year, as Davis Bay swim organizer and SCLC secretary and treasurer Jim Brookes said, “Everyone who went in came out.”
