Hundreds Jumpstart the New Year With Polar Plunge in South Boston
A New Year’s Day tradition stretching back more than 100 years continued Wednesday, Jan. 1, as hundreds participated in a polar bear plunge in Boston Harbor. The L Street Brownies, the oldest “polar bear” club in America, organized the Southie event, which has taken place every New Year’s Day since 1904.
“It’s good for my back. It helps with that. Sort of deals with aches and pains and things like that. But mainly it’s good fun and it’s lovely people. And it’s a good silly thing to do,” said Nicky Peavy, a cold water swimmer, in an interview with WCVB.
“This new year feels a little ominous,” Newton resident Rachel King, who stood on the M Street Beach in South Boston, told the Boston Herald in an interview. “So it’s good to start it with something daring and bold. Sort of stating that we’re still here.”
Despite the clouds and drizzle during the morning, event participants, dressed in bathing suits, thick robes, and colorful holiday towels, kept their energy and spirits high during the plunge. A couple, Christina Nardone and Matthew McConnell, even took a dip in the icy water in their dress clothes after being married that morning on the beach.
Longtime polar bear plunger Steven Popolo told WBZ that he wouldn’t think about celebrating New Year’s Day without the plunge.
“This is 47 years in a row here, since I was 20 years old, I’m 67 now,” he said. “For me, it means reborn. It means rejuvenated.”
Participant William Geller said he looks at the activity as an opportunity to focus on good things in a new year. “It’s a chance to turn goals that may start out as uncomfortable resolutions into happy and healthy habits throughout the year ahead.”
