2nd January, 2025
Where there’s a will, there’s a way
… and, as you’ll see in the video below, I was determined.
I overdid things in mid-December. As you’ll hear above, I strained a knee and have spent much of the last two weeks hobbling around.
Did I want to let this get in the way of an annual tradition I’d kept for the past 12 years? I did not. The Vancouver Polar Bear Swim is a New Year’s Day tradition in Vancouver. Yesterday’s swim marked the 105th anniversary of this event in our city.
While it’s been two generations since a group of our country’s alpine skiers – Jim Hunter, Dave Irwin, Dave Murray, Steve Podborski and Ken Read – first earned the “Crazy Canucks” moniker for their incredibly quick and seemingly reckless downhill skiing, many of us have family members and friends who refer to us the same way for our New Year’s Day antics.
In the closing days of 2024, I headed out for brief walks that were a fraction of the distance I’d normally cover … and did so at a pace slower than a turtle’s. I was determined to do the 2025 Polar Bear Swim, though, so these were also test walks. After a walk along the sands of Spanish Banks New Year’s Eve morning, I realised I’d be asking for trouble if I made my way down to English Bay to head into those waters alongside the 12,000 other registrants. While I normally walk from home to English Bay for this annual dip, the Polar Bear Swim is a mad and happy jostling of people racing in and out of the waters. One wrong bump, however mild, could generate consequences I didn’t want.
So, instead of joining the throngs at English Bay yesterday afternoon, I headed in the morning to Jericho Beach. I’d done a solo dip before, back in 2021 when pandemic conditions were such that people were encouraged to register for the swim but to take their dips privately. Each of us who registered in 2021 received that year’s commemorative badge in the mail.
Yesterday, I wasn’t the only one stepping in to chilly waters away from English Bay. There were various groups of people along the beach; some were among the “dippers”, and others stayed dry on the beach, with towels and warm drinks in hand. A family of four headed in to the waters alongside me, and I could hear celebratory cheers from a large group of people as they splashed their way in to 2025 by the nearby yacht club. After I’d done the deed and dried off, I encountered a group wearing New Year’s party hats and carrying champagne for post-dip celebrations.
W.hile I’d pre-registered for this year’s Polar Bear Swim, I’d anticipated there would be a one-year gap in my collection of Vancouver Park Board-issued commemorative pins. That was all right, though; I knew I’d taken the plunge.
Yesterday afternoon, though, I did receive a 2025 pin.
After I’d dried off and warmed up, my husband decided to walk over to English Bay. He enjoyed the spectacle and, after a brief chat with volunteers, headed home with the newest addition to my collection!
Do you maintain New Year’s Eve or Day traditions?
If so, I hope you enjoyed yours. However you’ve embarked on this new year, I wish you and yours a terrific ’25!
Images © 2024 Shelagh Donnelly. All rights reserved.