Rotary Club of Prince Rupert Annual 2023 Polar bear dip had a big welcome back splash on Jan 1, after a two-year pandemic hibernation. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View
Three amigos brave the cold waters at Rushbrook Floats, where the annual Prince Rupert Rotary Polar Bear dip occurred on Jan. 1. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View)
A champion braves the cold waters at the 2023 Polar Bear Dip hosted by Rotary Club of Prince Rupert and the Port Edward Harbour Authority, On Jan. 1, at Rush Brook Floats. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View)
A swimmer heads to shore after braving the cold at the Prince Rupert Rotary Club annual Polar Bear Dip on Jan. 1. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View)
Expression of cold as brave swimmers enter the water at Rushbrook Floats on Jan. 1, at the annual Polar Bear Dip hosted by Rotary Club of Prince Rupert and Port Edward Harbour Authority. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View)
A swimmer braves the cold at the Prince Rupert Rotary Club annual Polar Bear Dip on Jan. 1. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View)
A big thumbs up as a swimmer braves the cold at the Prince Rupert Rotary Club annual Polar Bear Dip on Jan. 1. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View)
Danny Atehortua gives a big thumbs up at completing his first polar bear dip on Jan. 1, after arriving as a new immigrant from Columbia ten months ago. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View)
Bob Killbery dishes up some of the complimentary hotdogs for swimmers and spectators at the 2023 Polar Bear Dip hosted by the Rotary Club of Prince Rupert on Jan 1 at Rushbrook Floats. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View)
Swimmers swarm the water at Rushbrook Floats on Jan. 1, at the annual Prince Rupert Rotary Club Polar Bear Swim, hosted in partnership with Port Edward Harbour Authority which was back after a two-year pandemic hibernation. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View)
A family of eager participants from Saskatchewan who were visiting relations in Prince Rupert braved a polar bear dip for the first time which was hosted by Prince Rupert Rotary Club and Port Edward harbour Authority on Jan. 1. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View)
Escaping dry land for the chill of a cool time a swimmer conquers the cold waters on Jan. 1 at the Prince Rupert Rotary Club annual polar bear dip, hosted in partnership with Port Edward Harbour Authority at Rushbrook Floats. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View)
A crowd of more than 300 gathered to spectate and participate in the annual polar bear plunge in Prince Rupert on Jan. 1. (Photo: K-J Millar/ The Northern View)
City Councillor Gurvinder Randhawa helps the Rotary Club of Prince Rupert warm-up participants with hot chocolate at the 2023 Annual Polar Bear Dip on Jan. 1. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View)
A swimmer shares her thoughts with an expression of cold as she plunges into the water at Rush Brook Floats on Jan. 1, during the Rotary Club of Prince Rupert’s annual polar bear dip, hosted in partnership with Port Edward Harbour Authority. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View)
A swimmer gets ready to take the polar bear plunge at the annual event hosted by Rotary Club of Prince Rupert and Port Edward Harbour Authority on Jan. 1. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View)
Rowse in the house - or in the water. Judd Rowse gets ready to set sail on an epic voyage into the waters at Rushbrook Floats for the annual Rotary Cub of Prince Rupert Polar Bear Dip on Jan. 1. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View)
A group of friends huddles to stay warm after taking a polar plunge into the waters of Rushbrook Floats at the annual Rotary Club of Prince Rupert event on Jan. 1. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View)
Kaeden De Araujo is going bananas showing super strength and bravery at the annual polar bear plunge on Jan. 1 hosted by the Rotary Club of Prince Rupert in partnership with the Port Edward Harbour Authority on Jan. 1. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View)
Const. Gabriel Gravel, media relations officer for the Prince Rupert RCMP detachment had no part in dipping his toes into the cold water at the annual polar bear dip at Rushbrook Floats on Jan. 1. Gravel stood by on dry land to be at the ready as avid swimmers swarmed the waters. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View)
Danny Atehortua hugs his settlement worker, Emmiline Millar, after they both participated in his first polar plunge after moving to Prince Rupert ten months ago from Columbia. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View)
A big thumbs up as a swimmer braves the cold at the Prince Rupert Rotary Club annual Polar Bear Dip on Jan. 1. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View)
Members of SARS stand by on Jan. 1 at the first Rotary Club of Prince Rupert Polar Bear Dip in three years after a pandemic hibernation. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View)
Ethan Malthus and his best buddy of six years, Mason Bahm are excited for the polar bear dip to be back. The boys said they first took the polar plunge in 2019 when they were seven years old. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View)
Three lovely Rosies are riveted by the chance to take the polar bear plunge with a Sasquatch photo bomber encouraging them from behind the scenes at the 2023 Rotary Club of Prince Rupert annual event, co-hosted by Port Edward Harbour Authority on Jan. 1. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View)
Prince Rupert Rotary Club volunteer serves up hotdogs to the swimmers and spectators at the 2023 Rotary Club of Prince Rupert polar bear plunge on Jan. 1. the event was co-hosted by Port Edward harbour Authority at Rushbrook Floats. Swimmers were out of the water as fast as some went in at the annual polar plunge hosted by the Rotary Club of Prince Rupert in partnership with the Port Edward Harbour Authority on Jan. 1.
The crowd numbered more than 300 participants and spectators at the 43 annual New Year’s day event at Rushbrook Floats.
The polar bear event was in full splash mode after a three-year pandemic hibernation, with the last event in January 2020, right before COVID-19 shut down public activities.
The polar bear dip started in 1978 with some of the first four swimmers still around today, Doug Kydd, Rotary club executive member said, naming Gary Brunelle, Terry Garon, Don Hemmons and Bill Pickering as the daredevils who started the epic event in Prince Rupert 45 years ago. This was long before some of the youngest participants’ parents were born.
Mason Bahm and Ethan Malthus have been best buds for six years — most of their lives, they told The Northern View.
“Me and Nathan did this a few years ago and thought it was really fun, so we try to do it every year together. It’s exciting,” Malthus said.
The ten-year-olds first time taking the plunge was in 2019 when Mason had an adventure that he and Ethan were proud to tell with their youthful exuberance.
“I almost drowned … I was seven and me and Ethan were jumping off the dock. I fell and I didn’t know how to swim at that time, so I tried to grab onto the boards but they were too slippery,” Bahm recounted, adding the experience was exciting and hadn’t put him off the event.
Also, a first-time polar bear dipper was Danny Atehortua, who arrived in Prince Rupert from Columbia ten months ago as a new immigrant. He has been embracing Canadian customs one by one as opportunities arise. Asked why he would participate in such a chilly event, he said, “I love Prince Rupert. It’s my first polar bear dip.”
His wife, Joanne Tangrife, said it was too cold for her and she thought he was “crazy.”
“I said O.K. honey, if you want to do it, do it, but I’m just watching,” she said.
During the event, Kydd addressed the crowd informing them the water was an almost equal temperature to the air around of 7.5 C.
“So the conditions are almost perfect for this crazy event,” he said, adding the record temperature in recent years was 2013 with a “toasty” 9.3 C.
Rotary Club thanked sponsors and food providers Save-On-Foods and Tim Hortons for the hotdogs and drinks, as well as the emergency services personnel from BC Ambulance, RCMP and SARS for standing by to offer aid if needed.
“There have been no shark sightings in the area for the past 24 hours and probably longer, so swimmers should be safe,” Kydd joked just before hundreds of swimmers took the plunge.
City of Prince RupertDistrict of Port EdwardRotary
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