If you’re looking to symbolically wash “away your sins of 2017” (that’s a direct quote from Bowen’s tourism website!) or you simply wanna get cold and wet with fellow islanders, then the Polar Bear Swim might be just the thing.
The 2018 Bowen Island Polar Bear swim is of course, on January 1, a Monday this year. Islanders will run down Bowen Bay Beach and into the freezing winter water at 2 p.m, sharp.
Kelly Miller will be on the bullhorn counting down the event and exhorting swimmers on to bravely plunge into the ocean, and start their new year with a benumbing bang. Miller says they got about 100 people in for the 2017 Polar Bear swim and she is hoping for a similar number this year.
“The Polar Bear swim has been going on for as long as I can remember so over 30 years,” says Miller, who operates the Bowen Island Tattoo shop. “Robby Robertson ran it before my time, then Herald Fraser took it over... and after that my dad Ken Miller ran it. I took it over 7 years ago after my dad passed. Some years I have gone in but since I’ve been running it I stay dry and ‘man’ the megaphone.”
Many people gather before 2pm, and collectively steel themselves for the dunk.
Many sane people are also in attendance, there to watch the dippers and celebrate the New Year. Many islanders have never done it but there are some who do it each year. There is a sign-up at the beach and participants get a certificate saying that, well, that you’ve done the deed. And how freezing might it be? The water temperature on New Year’s Day is usually between 6 and 8 degrees Celsius. But hey, no worries, you’ll have a warm day to greet you when you get out of the water. NOT. It’s expected to be just above freezing, and there may be snow on the beach as you sprint to the water’s edge.
Happy dipping, and don’t forget to bring a BIG towel!
