Princess' Polar Bear Swim (page 2)

Dismembered

Greetings Mulan,

What did you feed that young lady. BRRRRRR

Dismembered

Mulan

She is an awesome athlete. As to what I fed her?..................can't say it had anything to do with what she does now.

Sometimes I wonder where she came from. She is very driven.

LittleToe

Brrrrrr

Rather her than me. I'm guessing it all started from her friend being dumb enough to say "I dare you!"

Richard and I swim across and back this lake 2-3 times a week from late May to late September every year. I thought it would be a great idea to do a Polar Bear swim in it to "christen" the year of swimming. We weren't able to schedule it on New Years Day and ultimately had planned it for January 11 because his friend visiting from Montreal really wanted to be there and she was going home that night. We woke to snow and temps in the teens. Neither one of us will ever back off from a stupid idea like this, (and give the other the opportunity to say the other backed out) so we all piled into our cars and drove to the lake.

We originally were going to jump in and climb back out the ladders. With the temps so low we were afraid of our hands sticking to the metal railings so we had to dive in and swim all the way to shore. I knew if we tried to count down and go together it would take all day and I'd have to get my frostbitten toes cut off so I just dove in before Richard had a chance to do anything.

It's all on video and will be on Youtube soon.

Quite simply, the coldest and most painful fun I've ever had. It's not that I couldn't do it again. I just don't think I need to. Been there, done that, have proof.

Next.

Rachel

Princess

Any idea what the water temp. was? The coldest I have been in was around 46 and it gave me an ice cream headache every time my head got dunked.

I couldn't feel anything but my pounding head. Richard told me the next day that he couldn't put his head back in after the initial dive. I knew I'd swim much faster with my head down so I pushed through the pain.

I need to go back out with Steve's dive computer to measure the water temp. I'll just put my arm in this time though.

LittleToe

Ohhhhhh, so YOU were the one who said "I dare you!"

Jourles

Freaks. I've sort of been in that situation before but not for the swim. Once was an early season of kayaking on the Blue River that comes out of the dam on Lake Dillon in CO. The water temp is usually around 36-39 degrees at that time of year. I got rolled up and had to pull out - dumbass me didn't think a drysuit was going to be necessary that day due to my extreme kayaking skills. I barely made it over to the shore. My skin was turning blue and purple. The other cold water "event" I thought I could breeze on by was the Spring Splash at Winter Park, CO. They set up a big obstacle course on the slope and when you get to the bottom you have to launch off a jump and try to ski aross the large trench they have dug out. The one time I did it, I simply wore shorts, a tshirt, and my ski boots. Quite a few people in front of me never made it across. I knew I probably wasn't going to make it either so I just did a heli off the jump and landed square in the pond. No one helps you get out, so you're trying to walk out with your skis on in chest deep water. To give you an idea of how cold that was - there was plenty of snow floating on top of the water.

I feel for anyone who accidentally falls into near freezing water. I do however laugh at anyone who complains that the water is cold when they jump in on purpose! I could never do a polar bear club swim these days. Twice similar is enough for me.

Princess

Who's complaining? I was just telling how it was.

It was cold, very, very cold.

Princess

There is now ice on this lake.

Edited to add: Unfortunately, I know this because three teenagers were playing on the ice and fell through last night. One of them died.

bikerchic

Unfortunately, I know this because three teenagers were playing on the ice and fell through last night. One of them died.

I had no idea when I heard that news story it was the same lake. I did wonder if you and friend had taken any safety measures like someone on the lake in a boat to do a rescue if one of you needed to be rescued? Hypothermia can affect even the strongest of athletes and thing can go bad really fast. I'm glad you are both okay.

While I think you are awesome and it's great to challenge yourself it did seem to me to be risky and I hope you never put yourself in harms way it's really not worth it, but I'm sure you know that!

Quite simply, the coldest and most painful fun I've ever had. It's not that I couldn't do it again. I just don't think I need to. Been there, done that, have proof.

Good to put that one behind you! Keep safe!

Princess' Polar Bear Swim

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