Close X
Thursday, December 12, 2024
ADVT 
National

Vancouver, Are You Ready to Take the Dip at the 97th annual Polar Bear Swim?

Vancouver Park Board, 21 Dec, 2016 04:29 PM
    Get ready to take the plunge with thousands of fellow swimmers and revelers on English Bay this New Year's Day. Daredevils can dress-up in fancy costume, compete in the Peter Pantages Memorial 100-yard swim race, or just come out to watch and delight in the spectacle! 
     
    “The Polar Bear Swim is one Vancouver’s iconic events and I look forward to joining thousands dressed up to enjoy our clean ocean water even after this cold snap,” said Park Board Chair Michael Wiebe. “As a former Park Board lifeguard, I intend to take a dip myself and am still pondering the 100-yard swim race.”
     
    Vancouver’s Polar Bear Swim Club is one of the largest and oldest in the world. Ninety seven years ago in 1920, Peter Pantages and nine other brave swimmers started their New Year in style by plunging into the chilly waters of English Bay. Recently, the Vancouver’s Polar Bear Swim has attracted more polar bears around the world, reaching a record of 2,550 polar bears in 2014!   Water temperatures have ranged from 6.5 to 9 degrees Celsius in the past decade.
     
    “My grandfather always considered the swim to be about family, friends, community, fun and tradition. He would be absolutely amazed --as we are-- at how many people in so many places have embraced this crazy fresh start to the New Year. It is marvelous!” says Lisa Pantages, Peter Pantages’ granddaughter who plans to swim for the 54th time.
     
    Participants can download and complete the registration form, and bring it to the swim to avoid lineups and enter a prize draw. 
     
    Participants have a chance to win Polar Bear Swim t-shirts and one-month Flexipass valid at any Park Board facility. Simply share photos of this yer's swim on Twitter and Instagram with the hastag #VanPolarBearSwim.
     
    Cash and food donations for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank will be collected onsite. 
     
    Polar Bear Swim tips:
    • If you have a heart problem – be a spectator!
    • Children must swim and stay with an adult.
    • Please leave your dog at home.
    • Do not drink - alcohol does not warm you up - it accelerates hypothermia.
    • Do not stay in the water longer than 15 minutes. Body heat is lost 25 times faster in water than in air.
    • Do not remove your clothing until swim time. The swim will be started by a flag and siren.
    • Entrants in the 100 yard race - meet in the front line on the north side (Stanley Park side) of the enclosure.
    • First three swimmers to touch the marker buoy by the lifeguard boat - give your names to the lifeguard.
    • After you swim, pick up your commemorative button at the large polar bear or at the registration table.
     
    Find out more about Vancouver’s Polar Bear Swim at vancouver.ca/polar-bear-swim

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Canada Asks U.S. Court To Toss Case Alleging It Wrongly Named Woman A Terrorist

    Canada Asks U.S. Court To Toss Case Alleging It Wrongly Named Woman A Terrorist
    The Canadian government wants a United States court to throw out a lawsuit that accuses it of ruining the life and multimillion-dollar business of a British Columbia woman after it wrongly branded her a terrorist.

    Canada Asks U.S. Court To Toss Case Alleging It Wrongly Named Woman A Terrorist

    B.C. Enacts Ministerial Order To Create Overdose Prevention Sites

    Terry Lake says the order gives provincial emergency health services and regional health authorities the ability to provide overdose prevention treatment as necessary on an emergency basis.

    B.C. Enacts Ministerial Order To Create Overdose Prevention Sites

    Delta Man, 53, Dead After Bar Fight In South Delta

    Delta Man, 53, Dead After Bar Fight In South Delta
    On December 11, 2016 at approximately 0130 hrs., Delta Police responded to a report of a fight at the rear of Rose and Crown Pub  in the 1200 blk 56th Street in South Delta.

    Delta Man, 53, Dead After Bar Fight In South Delta

    Cheers! 'Slightly Intoxicated' Chilliwack Birthday Boy Given $288 Fine For Dangerous SkyTrain Ride

    Cheers! 'Slightly Intoxicated' Chilliwack Birthday Boy Given $288 Fine For Dangerous SkyTrain Ride
    Transit Police in Metro Vancouver say a young man's "recklessness" on his 20th birthday led to a gift of fines totalling nearly $300.

    Cheers! 'Slightly Intoxicated' Chilliwack Birthday Boy Given $288 Fine For Dangerous SkyTrain Ride

    Nova Scotia Grandmother Hosts Christmas Dinner For Those Alone During The Holidays

    BLOCKHOUSE, N.S. — A grandmother in Nova Scotia has invited nine strangers to her dinner table this Christmas for a festive get together for those who can't spend the holidays with their families.

    Nova Scotia Grandmother Hosts Christmas Dinner For Those Alone During The Holidays

    Hundreds Left Homeless After Massive Langley Condo Fire

    Hundreds Left Homeless After Massive Langley Condo Fire
    Rory Thompson, fire chief for the City of Langley, said crews received a call about a fire on a fourth floor balcony around 10 a.m. and about 55 firefighters were still attacking the flames several hours later.

    Hundreds Left Homeless After Massive Langley Condo Fire