The Real Way to Start the Winter Olympics
by Gen Handley in Blog on February 23rd, 2010
Do you like this article?
TweetIt’s the second official day of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and myself and the roughly 15 other competitors are lined up, ready for the race to start. I look at the faces of the swimmer next to me – he looks cold already, but the lines of determination on his face make me wonder if I’m even prepared for such competition.
No, I wasn’t participating in an Olympic event, well, not an official one any way. This was the 2010 Olympic Polar Bear Swim which took place in the light, afternoon rain of February 13 down at English Bay.
“You’re all very brave people,” said organizer Fred Swindells, who stood by holding a megaphone in a very cozy-looking bathrobe.
While the temperatures that day were hovering around a mild 10 degrees, my whole world was immediately changed when I threw myself into the roughly 4-degrees water. Free beer is always good motivation, but the
frigid, icy water was just too much. I barely made it to the 100-foot mark before I began to tread water and head back for the sake of ending the numbing pain and to hopefully stop any damage I had done to my already limited child-rearing capabilities.
Close to 20 brave swimmers showed up that day to not only jump into the frigid English Bay-waters, but to swim 100 feet in a race for some locally brewed and appropriately-named Iceholes Celebration Lager from R and B Brewing.
“I’m still slowly getting back the feeling in certain body parts right now,” said race winner Dan Wyper with a laugh. “I’m looking forward to all of the beer I get to drink now.”
Normally held on January 1, the Vancouver Polar Bear Swim is considered one of largest and oldest swims in the world, with the local event celebrating its 90th birthday this year.
Will I attend the Polar Bear Swim again? Definitely. Will I participate? Only as a Baileys-sipping observer.
Photo: Mark Teasdale
TweetYou might also like...
