Polar Bear Swim Day 2024: Date, History, Things to do, Facts

Polar Bear Swim Day 2024: The first of January is Polar Bear Plunge Day, a day when people are encouraged to jump into cold water. Many people also use the day to raise money for local causes to start off the New Year. It’s also called Polar Bear Swim Day.

You should take off your clothes and jump into the icy water. You can even walk a few steps over the snow and ice. Does that sound like fun? Yes, a lot of people do believe it does, and they do this every year! In the cold winter seas around the world, thousands of people jump in every year, sometimes for charity and sometimes just for fun.

Polar Bear Swim Day 2024: History

In the winter, people do something called a “polar bear plunge,” which is also called a “polar bear swim” or “ice swimming.” Everyone meets at a certain time at the edge of a body of water nearby, and at the sound of a starting whistle, they all jump into the water at the same time. A lot of plungers move quickly to get in and out of the very cold water. Some people try to get in slowly. Some brave people, usually first-timers, jump right into the freezing, wet water. There is no difference in how fast people get into the water; everyone is eager to get out and avoid the biting cold on their skin.

In the US, polar bear swim clubs have been around for over one hundred years. The L Street Brownies, a swim club that was started in 1902 in South Boston, Massachusetts, took their first icy cold plunge into Dorchester Bay on New Year’s Day, 1904. This is the oldest known polar bear dive event. From then on, they’ve been doing a polar bear dive every time the New Year comes around.

Scandinavians liked ice swimming long before the L Street Brownies found out how exciting it was to swim with polar bears on New Year’s Day. Nordic countries do a lot of ice swimming, and not just on New Year’s Day. It might seem strange. It is traditional for Finns to go ice-hole swimming, which means making a hole in a frozen lake and jumping in to swim. More than 20,000 people have signed up to be “icebreakers” in Denmark’s more than 75 winter swim clubs. More than anyone else, the Danes like diving naked. Why, though?

People say that swimming in cold water is good for both your mind and body. Some studies have shown that even a cold shower can raise the amount of mood- and pain-regulating hormones in the blood. These chemicals that happen naturally are very important for fighting sadness. People who live in the northernmost regions, where sunshine can be scarce for long periods of time, often have seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. This may be why Nordic cultures have been swimming on the ice for so many generations. Many health spas around the world offer the Nordic routine of going into a hot sauna and then jumping into ice water as a wellness treatment.

Regular ice swimmers say that the thrill of the cold gives them more energy and makes their minds sharper. Some people say that skinny dipping in cold water is good for you, but we’ve heard that you can get the same effect by just sleeping.

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Things to do

If taking a swim in the cold water on New Year’s Day sounds interesting to you or has been on your list of things to do for a long time, we think you might have some Nordic DNA in you. Why not just jump in? The Polar Bear Plunge is now held every year in most states and many cities and towns to enjoy the New Year and raise money for a good cause.

Even if you don’t want to jump into freezing water on a winter day, you can still join in the fun and celebrations by offering to be someone else’s land partner. A lot of people need to volunteer for organized events to be safe for brave plungers and to raise money.

If you don’t want to be around “human polar bears,” get warm and go to the zoo to see the real thing. There are windows in some zoos where you can watch the beautiful but playful animals swim and play in the water. You can also watch polar bear cams online if you’d rather stay nice and cozy at home.

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Facts About Polar Bear Swim Day

• A gasp reflex is the body’s natural response to sudden cold water. This reflex can continue as uncontrollable hyperventilation or an irregular breathing rate.
• When you’re in cold water for a while, your body starts to trick you into thinking you’re not that cold. If you’re not used to it, this can easily cause you to drown.
• For people with asthma, being in cold water or cold air can set off an attack.
• Cold urticaria, also known as “cold hives,” is a condition in which people get big red welts on their legs after being in cold air or water.
• When you dip your body in cold water, your blood pressure will rise as a response to the shock. However, if you don’t know you have high blood pressure or a heart problem, this could lead to an irregular beating or a heart attack.