Another year, another icy swim in the Atlantic Ocean.
Over a thousand Brooklynites braved the cold on New Year’s Day as part of Coney Island’s annual Polar Bear Plunge, hosted by the Polar Bear Club.
The club – the oldest of its kind in the United States – refers to itself as “just a group of people from all walks of life who deeply enjoy the activity of cold water swimming,” according to its website. Founded in 1903, the Polar Bear Club braves the numbing ocean every Sunday from November through April.
And on every first day of the year, it has some company.
The gutsy group – and thousands of other swimmers and spectators – convened at 1 p.m. on the Coney Island Boardwalk at Stillwell Avenue. Participation brought with it a suggested donation of $20 to benefit Camp Sunshine—a retreat for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families.
Meanwhile, groups like the Dimitrios & Georgia Kaloidis (DGK) Parochial School – among those that represented Bay Ridge at the daring dip – used the plunge as an excuse to do a little fundraising of its own. For the second year in a row, the Bay Ridge school — which, this year, had more than 15 participants — used the event as a means to raise money for DGK.
Last year, the swimmers brought in nearly $10,000. This year, they aimed for $15,000—and beat it.
“We exceeded our goal and raised over $23,000,” said James Vavas, chairperson of the DGK school board. “This was our second year doing the plunge and, compared to last year, it was a little bit warmer.”
The lack of wind, he said, didn’t hurt either.
“The worse the wind is, the worse the plunge is,” Vavas said, noting that, though the water may be intimidating, he and his team felt no pain. “It was a fantastic time. The adrenaline really gets you going and, to be honest, you don’t really feel anything.”