This morning I went with four friends to Coney Island in Brooklyn for the Annual Polar Bear Plunge. Hundreds of people (or more) showed up to take a dip in the ocean on a frigid day.

The sun was shining brightly, but the air temperature was in the high 20s, and the “real feel” due to gusty winds, was only 6 degrees.

The atmosphere was festive. Swimmers came with friends to cheer them on and offer them towels and blankets when they emerged from the water.

Some were in silly costumes. Some wore funny head pieces. None carried a mock Statue of Liberty into the water. Women and girls were in bikinis. They stripped off their warm clothes and their shoes and ran into the Atlantic Ocean.

There was a mood of hilarity about the madness of the event. Everyone was smiling or laughing or both. People run into the water. Some run out as soon as they have gotten wet. Others actually swim. Some splash around.

A lifeguard keeps watch, and a police boat is anchored about 100 yards beyond the swimmers.

The Coney Island Polar Bear Club sponsors the event every year to raise money for local charities. Their members swim all year round; the huge crowd of swimmers shows up only on January 1, to welcome in the New Year.

For two hours, politics, heated partisan issues, and acrimony were cast aside as a diverse crowd of Americans frolicked in the ocean.

I asked one young woman in a tiny bikini how it felt to jump in. She said “Exhilarating! The water was warmer than the air.”

Another young woman peeled off her clothes and stripped to her bathing suit, accompanied by three friends. She said it was her first Polar Bear Plunge. I asked why she was doing it. She said, “If I can do this, I can do anything.”

A handsome African-American man gathered a crowd as he danced around in his bathing suit, getting psyched to jump in. He told the crowd that it was his first time. He jumped up and down, kicked his legs in the air, yelled “Here I go!” And he ran straight into the ocean.

I wanted to wait until he emerged, because we were leaving, but he was cavorting in the water, having a great time. We left, bound for a hot and filling Chinese meal, at a tiny restaurant on Fort Hamilton Parkway in Brooklyn.

This is a joyful event. Join us next year if you can. I won’t swim with you but I will be glad to cheer you on.

Audrey, Hope, Maureen, me, Mary.
Getting ready to suit up and take the plunge
It was really, really cold.
Her first plunge on New Year’s Day
Dressed as a polar bear, ready to take the plunge
The swimmers had a great time!
Psyching himself up for his first January 1 swim
Doing his pre-swim high kicks, and off he goes!
Like most swimmers, they ran into the ocean as fast as they could
With the Ferris wheel in the background, a nylon igloo stated the obvious.