When did the Polar Bear Plunge start in Milwaukee?
In 1933, Milwaukee’s Polar Bear Club didn’t wait for New Year’s Day to take the plunge. This group of swimmers hit the waves in November.
What is Polar Bear Plunge day?
January 1st
Every year on January 1st, Polar Bear Plunge Day encourages people to take a dip in cold, freezing waters.
Is Polar Bear Plunge safe?
“You get that initial cold shock response, and there’s a high risk of drowning during the first seconds because some people just kind of stop, and they can’t catch their breath, and they can’t physically keep themselves out of the water actually does bring a higher risk of drowning in that face,” Schmidt said.
How cold is too cold to Polar Plunge?
In that case, even strong swimmers could have trouble making it to shore: Being in cold water—between 41 and 59 degrees—for anywhere from 1 to 15 minutes can trigger a type of nerve dysfunction, or paralysis, that limits your ability to swim, says Tipton.
Who started the polar bear plunge?
Peter Pantages
That man was Peter Pantages, who came to Canada about a year earlier, according to Vancouver writer and researcher Eve Lazarus. Pantages died in 1971, but his friend and fellow cold-water swimmer Harry Kovish had been doing the New Year’s Day swim since the 1940s, said Webb.
Is polar bear plunge safe?
Why is Polar Plunge good for you?
Reap the Benefits: Cold water plunging lower the temperature of damaged tissue and constricts the blood vessels. This reduces swelling and inflammation. It numbs the nerve endings to bring relief to injured muscles and joints.
How cold is too cold for a Polar Plunge?
It’s especially important that you do not stay in the water longer than two minutes. One of the most common causes of hypothermia is cold-water immersion, particularly in water below 10°C (50°F).
Have people died doing a Polar Plunge?
Such cold water dips are popular, but statistics on the injuries they inflict don’t really exist. “There are thousands of people who do this every year,” says Gordon Giesbrecht, a researcher at the University of Manitoba and a leading expert on hypothermia and cold injuries, “and deaths are rare.”
Can cold plunge make you sick?
Plunging into frigid water is stressful on the body and can have harmful effects. Hypothermia, mainly. And in rare cases immersion can provoke cardiac arrest, arrhythmia, or respiratory distress, particularly in people with underlying health issues.
How cold is the water for polar bear plunge?
The water temperature was an extremely cold 37 degrees. Swimmers brave the cold as they plunge into the surf for the Coney Island Polar Bear Club’s annual New Year’s Day swim Thursday, January 1, 2015, at Coney Island. This 2006 file photo shows people on the sidelines capturing photos of those taking the plunge.
Can you get sick from cold plunge?
Who should not do a polar plunge?
Cold water draws heat away from the body approximately 20 times faster than air of equal temperature. Young children, the elderly and those with smaller body types, lower body weight and lower body-fat content are at an even higher risk for hypothermia. Get in, and get out!
Is a Polar Plunge healthy?
“Participants can get what’s called initial cold shock response and with that can actually come some risks. People, especially with heart disease, would be at a higher risk of having abnormal heart rhythms or going in even into cardiac arrest,” Schmidt said.