Polar Bear Swim Day 2025 is on Wednesday, January 1, 2025: Where & when did the "POLAR BEAR SWIM" originate? Who created the New Years Day Tradition?

Wednesday, January 1, 2025 is Polar Bear Swim Day 2025. Polar Bear Swim 2012 held in Vancouver - Xinhua The Vancouver Polar Bear Swim

Make the leap just like a polar bear on Polar Bear Swim Day, hurling yourself into wintry waters for any chilly dip one of the ice and snow. Does that seem like fun? Whether it’s for charitable organisation, for any challenge or just to test different things and memorable, 1000's of individuals worldwide decide to try water in the winter months. Polar bear swims usually occur within the ocean, however the venue could also be a lake or perhaps an outside pool.New Year’s Day is frequently the selected date for any polar bear go swimming, possibly because next, anything 2012 throws to you will appear easy. Some swimming clubs run regular winter periods.Remember, people do not have the body fat and fur that safeguard polar bears in the Arctic cold. Go into the water gradually so it’s little of the shock, have dry clothes ready and warm-up later on with something to consume along with a hot drink.

Not sure if it's the oldest or not but...

In 1903, Bernarr Macfadden, a health advocate, nutritionist, bodybuilder, and author known as the "Father of Physical Culture," founded the Coney Island Polar Bear Club in Coney Island, Brooklyn. Macfadden, who held many controversial views, believed that swimming in the cold ocean built stamina, virility, and immunity. Early club members included New York City Deputy Police Commissioner George S. Dougherty and New York State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Crater. Today, the Coney Island Polar Bear Club is the nation’s oldest winter bathing organization, with a clubhouse at the New York Aquarium in Coney Island. Club members swim Sundays from October through the end of April, wearing bathing suits and neoprine surf boots and staying in the water for up to 20 minutes. The Coney Island Polar Bear Club’s biggest event is its New Year’s Day Swim, which attracts hundreds of participants. The 2004 New Year’s Day Swim is shown here.

any facts on polars bears please?

The polar bear or the sea/ice bear are the world's largest land predators. They can be found in the Artic, the U.S. (Alaska), Canada, Russia, Denmark (Greenland), and Norway. Each of these countries either banned hunting or established rules for how many polar bears could be hunted within its own boundaries. These rules help keep polar bear populations stable. Today, 25,000 to 40,000 polar bears roam the Arctic.

Around the age of four or five the female polar bear can start having babies. They usually only have two cubs and they have these babies in a cave they've dug in a large snow drift. They stay there over winter and come out in spring with the babies.

The babies are much smaller than human babies when they're born. They are the size of a rat and weigh little more than a pound. They can grow to full man size in a year if they have lots of food.

Male polar bears may grow 10 feet tall and weigh over 1400 pounds. Females reach seven feet and weigh 650 pounds. In the wild polar bears live up to age 25.

Despite what we think, a polar bear's fur is not white. Each hair is clear hollow tube. Polar bears look white because each hollow hair reflects the light. On sunny days, it traps the sun's infrared heat and keeps the bear warm at 98 degrees F (when they're resting).

Polar bear fur is oily and water repellent. The hairs don't mat when wet, allowing the polar bears to easily shake free of water and any ice that may form after swimming.

Polar bears have wide front paws with slightly webbed toes that help them swim. They paddle with their front feet and steer with their hind feet. Paw pads with rough surfaces help prevent polar bears from slipping up on the ice.

Polar bears have been known to swim 100 miles (161 kilometers) at a stretch.

Polar bears primarily eat seals. They often rest silently at a seal’s breathing hole in the ice, waiting for a seal in the water to surface. Once the seal comes up, the bear will spring and sink its jagged teeth into the seal’s head.

Sometimes the polar bear stalks its prey. It may see a seal lying near its breathing hole and slowly move toward it, then charge it, biting its head or grabbing it with its massive claws. A polar bear may also hunt by swimming beneath the ice.

Humans are the polar bears only predator. Baby polar bears often starve. In fact, 70 percent do not live to their third birthday. Sometimes seals are hard to find, especially in the summer when the ice has melted. All across the Arctic, man is moving in to mine oil and coal and there is less space for the polar bear to live. Oil spills can be very dangerous. A bear with oil on its coat cannot regulate its body temperature properly. If the bear eats the oil while grooming it could die.

Man made pollution is also a cause of death. At each stage of the food chain, pollutants get more concentrated. By the end when the polar bear eats the seal and it could be lethal.

are polar bears dieing?

Don't even get me started!! That commercial with the polar bears on the "ice berg" it's ridiculous! This is how a mother polar bear teaches her cubs to swim and hunt. Polar bears can and do swim miles per day as part of their life. People are too quick to believe anything without using their brains to think for themselves. Sad.