"Polar Bears" To Mark 100th Anniversary

No! I wouldn't go swiming in the frigid waters.

I would go to a nice, hot steaming sauna however!

Well, when having looked at their webside, I noticed that
"The history of the club is rooted in the European tradition of saunas and cold-water bathing. The Polar Bear Club, "was a reason and a way to keep the bathhouses busy at Coney Island," says McGann. These days, the bathhouses are gone but some swimmers remain. " And they stay just some minutes in the water.

Polar Bears website

Actually, this is done quite a lot here in Europe (and in some places with an ever much longer tradition as well) - not only as a saune pleasure, but just for fun and fitness (they are makings holes in the ice of the Moscow-river!).

However, I personally even try to avoid the cold water swimming in a sauna!

There's a group of people in South Boston, who go to the ocean naked during the cold of winter. I don't remember what their name is.

Just the thought of it makes me cold. Brrr

L street brownies is the club in South Boston.

Do you know why they have the name "Brownies"?

i can only imagine lol

LOL. I hate the cold in general, so I would never even consider it. Just the thought sends chills up my spine. Brrrrrrrr!!!!

The sauna sounds wonderful though :-D

Sydney's Bondi Beach has a very famous club "The Bondi Icebergs" started in 1929 for the very same purpose (ie freezing your nuts off).

http://www.icebergs.com.au/history/swimming/jj.htm

You can note that the white blobs in the water are actual blocks of ice!

There are a couple of groups here in Connecticut that take the plunge for charity.

The participants get pledges of money from friends and hand it in to the organizers and the charity, in this case it was the Special Olympics. I think they have raised as much as $30,000 in one day.

Thank heaven for wild people who love a challenge!