It was cold at the polar bear swim at Britannia Beach on New Year's Day - but no one knows how cold.
"I was scared to ask," said George McLaren, the organizer of what is fondly called Crazy George's polar bear swim.
The water temperature is a big question mark as well. Although there was talk about sticking a thermometer into the Howe Sound, no one got around to it.
"No one wanted to get close enough to put it in," McLaren said.
McLaren has been organizing the event for 21 years, first at Furry Creek and than Porteau Cove. The swim has been at the parking lot in Britannia Beach for the past eight years, but McLaren said next year it would be moved to a more isolated spot.
"Next year it will be even better."
He said he started up the local polar bear swim because "it was too far to drive to English Bay with a hangover."
There were between 85 to 100 people at the swim, but only around 37 people had the urge to jump into the water.
"We usually get way more," McLaren said.
The event is meant to be lighthearted fun for families, and there were children watching their parents get their feet wet.
"Some idiots wear costumes," said McLaren, who was wearing a pink tutu and a clown wig.He said it is an all year quest to find the right costume.
McLaren spent a little longer than most people in the water.
"You've always got to finish the champagne," he said.
He's still working on thawing out.
Although it does seem a bit illogical to jump into the water on a day when the temperature is below freezing plus the wind chill, there's a good reason.
"You can brag to your friends," he said.
However, this year there was a good cause behind the hot dog and hamburger sale at the polar bear swim. The sale raised $129.50, which was donated to Sherry Lundholm, a Britannia Beach resident who was swept up in the tsunami in Sri Lanka (see story page 3).
Lundholm survived the tsunami with the help of 10-year-old boy, who helped her onto a roof. She wants to help the village she was in and she's considering how best to do that.
Squamish takes the polar bear plunge
The folks at in Britannia Beach weren't the only ones to go for a dip in the Howe Sound. There was an impromptu polar bear swim a little closer to home at the beach at the south end of the Nexen lands.
"We just stripped down to our trunks and jumped in and out," said Murray Sovereign, one of four people who decided at the last minute to have a polar bear swim. He was joined by Brian Raiser, Mo Freitag, and Deb McQueen and four observers who stayed on the beach.
There had been talk amongst Sovereign and several others about having a polar bear swim earlier in the year when they discovered there was a beach in Squamish. Someone remembered the conversation around 11 p.m. on New Year's Eve and they decided to have the swim the next day at 12 p.m.
"It's possible that alcohol may have been a contributing factor," said Sovereign.
"The water wasn't bad," he said, noting that standing on the beach with the north blowing wind was colder.
He said the Squamish polar bear swim could become a very popular event and he's hoping someone will organize it, although he will if he has too.
