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Polar Bear Swim? Not on my dock!!!!
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This talk about Yaktraks and extreme weather reminds me. New Year's Eve we were in the low double digits on temp. Lets say...uhh..13. I live on a lake and for some bizarre reason only half of it is frozen, although it is usually solid by December.

So, around 5 PM NYE, I find the neighbor kid by the lake in a swimsuit and towel with a bunch of friends. He says he's going in. (He is about 16 - insane in kind of an amusing way, football team, plays hockey with his arm in a cast, rides his bike off the dock into the lake attached by a string the reels it in and repeats, etc). He was asking if he could go in off my dock. I told him I did not want to wreck his fun, but I didn't think it was an awesome idea. As soon as I saw him with the swimsuit, the first thing I did was grab a rope on my way to the dock . I told him if he really insisted on going in, he should do it by the beach, where he could walk in, and to have his friends ready with the rope and a blanket.

He left my area and I doubt he even went through with it...I started to think, have I gotten that old, am I just a fun wrecking worry wart? I know those Polar Bear Swimmers go in every Jan 1, but isn't salt water a bit warmer in general? I just recall a recent occurrance in the Catskills where 2 out of 3 young men didn't make it when their fishing boat tipped over, even though they were strong swimmers a few hundred yards from shore.

Any other anecdotes or thoughts about super cold weather OWS? thx
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Re: Polar Bear Swim? Not on my dock!!!! [WeRide] [ In reply to ]
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Perhaps this is the attorney in me, but, no chance in hell I would let them jump off my dock in that situation. None.

On the topic of foolish frigid weather stuff, my parents live in Green Bay, right on the bay. They have a hot tub in the back. We will sit in the tub, jump out, run into the snow, roll around, then jump back in the tub. That's about as "stupid" as I get in the cold ... well, that and sitting in the Lambeau Field parking lot for 3 hours before the game (tailgate), 3 1/2 hours at the game, and 1/2 hour after the game in butt-ass cold weather watching the Packers.

If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went. - Will Rogers

Emery's Third Coast Triathlon | Tri Wisconsin Triathlon Team | Push Endurance | GLWR
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Re: Polar Bear Swim? Not on my dock!!!! [JSA] [ In reply to ]
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LOL...Most importantly I never want to hear about any water related tragedy at all. But after that, way down second on the priority list, I certainly don't want it happening at my dock!!!!
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Re: Polar Bear Swim? Not on my dock!!!! [WeRide] [ In reply to ]
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Yes, you are an old spoil sport!

I went in with the polar bear club on New Year's day, although it's a good bit warmer here in TN (water temp about 40).

But back in my college days (in MN and in January) my cross country team did their little polar plunge. It went like this: run 2.5 miles to the lake, proceed to try to figure out how to get through the ice, 1 hour later we are wet and cold but have a hole through 8 inches of ice, we all strip down, jump in, climb out, run back to school.

It was almost undescribably cold. the sensation wasn't even one of cold, just sheer pain. But everyone should do it just to prove you're awesome. :)

Next year invite the kid over and jump in with him.
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