At the start of 2016, Canadians do one of two things; 1) Wake up with an incredibly epic hangover, or 2) Do an insane Polar Bear Swim. In the most Canadian of ways, a lot of people opt for number 2.
What’s a Polar Bear swim? Basically, you jump in a frigid body of water, en masse in either a costume or bathing suit and splash around until you’re adequately frozen. This is a Canadian tradition that’s been in place for over 100 years.
Started in the early 1900’s in Vancouver, the Polar Bear swim finds thousands of Canadians starting off their new year afresh, cleansing their bodies (so to speak), and what makes it less shocking to the system, is that a lot of these events across Canada are for charity. So you’re freezing your junk for a good cause, which softens the chill a wee bit.
Since it’s no fun to just show pictures, below we’ve got some of the better known Polar Bear swims happening today, and some video of people freezing their asses off at the events last New Years Day.
Enjoy!
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