Vancouver polar bear swim expected to draw thousands
Posted December 31, 2017 3:23 pm.
Last Updated January 1, 2018 9:25 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – One of the world’s oldest polar bear swims gets underway Monday afternoon.
It all started with 10 swimmers back on New Year’s Day of 1920. It has since grown to between 8,000 to 12,000 participants.
Peter Pantages is credited with getting those brave swimmers in the water 98 years ago. The Pantages family is still involved today, backing a memorial swim race in his name that began in 1972.
“That was, of course, before Canada went metric so it is a 100 yard swim,” explains Sean Healy, supervisor of aquatics for the Vancouver Park Board. That distance should be easy to spot on Monday.
“You swim offshore to a buoy marker and then, of course, for those people that are pretty intrepid, you have to remember it’s also 100 yards back to shore!”
And when do the polar bears hit the water?
“The event happens at 2:30 p.m. sharp and I jokingly like to refer that it’s over, typically, by about 2:31. So, it’s a quick swim. It’s quite cool, so we encourage people, of course, to wear layers for after the swim.”
If you are heading out to the swim, Healy encourages you to bring a cash or non-perishable food donation for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank.
The polar bear swim in English Bay isn’t the only around Metro Vancouver today. People will also be braving the chilly waters in White Rock, Port Moody, Delta, Fort Langley and North Vancouver.
There is also a clothing-optional dip in Crescent Beach in South Surrey.
