Annual Polar Bear Swim - Texas-style

Everywhere that we have lived, the local community has celebrated a Polar Bear Swim on New Year’s Day. So it was no surprise that South Padre Island did the same. Like all communities, the picture of the event was in the local paper the next day. Mind you, the Polar Bear Swims in Sault Ste. Marie (Lake Superior), Ottawa (Rideau River) and Kingston (Lake Ontario), were slightly different than what we experienced on Thursday, January 1, 2009.

What we have seen before over the years is 30 or so people (typically university students) jumping off a dock or into an oversized hole dug out of the ice on the lake or river. The actual time the swimmer spends in the water is about 5 seconds and, on the 6th second when they get out of the water, event supporters cover the participants in heavy towels and blankets and escort them off to safety. Since hypothermia and heart problems are common risks, the emergency vehicles and personnel are always present – just in case. On some past New Year’s Eves, I’ve even considered participating in these frigid conditions but always thought better of it come the New Year’s morning.

Well, in South Padre, things were a bit different and, frankly, pretty funny to watch when you come from the Great White North. At the event here on the island, we met several other observers from the northern US and Canada. We all laughed about the same thing – how can they even call this a “Polar Bear Event”?

First, let me say it was held at Boomerang Billy’s, one of the 4 beach bars on the Gulf side of the island. The 200 or so participants were of all sizes, shapes and ages – most in bathing suits, some in costumes, many with their dogs and all of them lathered in sun block!

When the registrants heard the starter pistol, we thought, "how tough this must be for them (lol):

• all were struggling as they ran helter-skelter in their bare feet on that treacherous sandy beach
• what were they thinking as they approached the waves in the Gulf – I mean they must have guessed it would be a bone-chilling 76 degrees!
• keep in mind they were also fighting the wind chill factor – it must have felt more like 85 degrees! and,
• if that wasn’t enough, imagine having to frolic in the waves for 20 minutes before heading back to Boomerang Billy’s for $2 Margueritas and/or Bloody Mary’s!

How much more brutal can a Polar Bear Swim get? I’m not sure. But I am sure we spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the sun, laughing and kicking back the $2 Margs amd Bloody Mary's! And all of us from ‘up north’ agreed - these Polar Bear Swim participants hung around outside (in their bathing suits, costumes and with their dogs) a whole lot longer than they ever would have at ‘home’. All to say, we may have been observers again this year but at least we observed the event first hand instead of just reading about it in the newspaper!

Just so you know, I’m participating next week in a 3-mile walk across the Queen Isabel Causeway. I'll keep you posted on the results of that event once I catch my breath! Hopefully, I’ll also be able to get some good pictures!