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There was only one mastery handed out to a tiny group of polar bear swimmers – no swimming.
"In and out," Maureen Kehler said.
She and a few others had gathered on the sandy banks of the Fraser River, at the Yale waterfront. For some, this Numbing Bear Swim has become a tried and true annual ritual. For others, well, there's a first era for everything.
They came loaded with large, thirsty towels, warm blankets and lavish robes. A handful of supporters — family, friends and neighbours — got hustling building a small fire, sheltered in the lee of a rock bluff.
Eleven swimmers — or plungers, more accurately — all stood at the top of a sandy dune staring at the gently rolling river before them. There was no have misgivings about it would be cold, with snow on the ground just metres above this valley. The air was a remote three degrees above zero, and the wind was strong enough to push through clothing.
And then, simply past noon, they all stripped down to the bare essentials — swim trunks, bikinis, oversized sunglasses.
Source: Agassiz-Harrison Observer