Thousands of thrill-seekers took an icy plunge into the new year when they splashed through glacial Atlantic waters for the Coney Island “Polar Bear” plunge.
“It’s invigorating,” said veteran participant Laurie Ferguson, 38, who was taking her 10th dip in the annual New Year’s Day tradition.
“It resets your year with something stupid,” she said, adding her friends thought she was nuts.
“All morning I heard it: ‘You’re crazy!” she said.
Temperatures clocked in at 37 degrees for the 1.00 p.m. plunge — a balmy dip compared to the record-shattering low of 7 degrees in 2018.
The Coney Island Polar Bear Plunge, now in its 116th year, is the oldest winter bathing event in the US and draws thousands of swimmers each year who raise money for different causes.
This year’s plunge raised $55,000 for organizations in the Coney Island community which is still recovering after Superstorm Sandy in 2012 and has a poverty rate of close to 30 percent.
Coney Island mother and daughter Amy and Lexi Violet have been doing the plunge for 12 years and described this year’s dip as relatively warm.
“You feel like you’re being stabbed by a thousand needles,” said Amy. “You feel like you’re reborn.”
“When it’s a warm year, it’s crowded. You have to push and shove to get in,” she said.
Added Lexi: “You feel like you’re having a heart attack it’s so cold.”
Some swimmers wore bikinis and their tighty-whities while others went all out, wearing superhero costumes and Santa hats.
While many New Yorkers were still in bed nursing a hangover, East Village man Paul Abreu, 47, insisted the icy plunge was a “blissful” experience.
Source: Read Full Article