Ottawa polar bear plungers still left out in the cold
Seven years ago, Michael Milsom found salvation in the icy waters of the Ottawa River.
Recently separated from his wife, a depressed and lonely Milsom was spending New Year’s Day Googling stuff on the internet when he came across a news story of smiling, laughing people at the Sears Great Canadian Chill at Britannia Beach.
“It was the worst time (for me) and here was a group of people doing the polar bear swim for charity, for the kids and CHEO. They looked happy and vibrant and full of life. I said, ‘This is my New Year’s resolution. Next year I am going to do this.’ ”
And so he did, for the next five years in a row. But financial trouble at Sears, the corporate sponsor, meant last year’s dip was cancelled and no sponsor has stepped forward to take Sears’ place. Ottawa’s polar bear dippers have been left out in the cold.
“For me, it was a celebration about life,” said Milsom, 54. “It was a little bit about community and a lot about fun.”
If you’re really set on ringing in 2018 the icy way, there is the Perth Polar Bear Plunge on the Tay River. The plunge, which will celebrate its 25th year on Monday, has raised more than $274,000 for charity since it was started by founder Dave Lavery in 1994.
Monday’s forecast calls for sunny skies and a “high” of -18 C, but that cold is just child’s play for campaign co-chair Stan Munro.
“Absolutely,” he says when asked if the swim will go ahead. “The colder the temperature, the warmer the water seems,” said Munro. “Maybe that’s just psychological.”
Munro, 60, started out inside the Royal Canadian Legion helping participants warm up after their plunge, but eventually decided the plunge was “too crazy” not to do. Monday’s swim will be his 19th.
He recalls 1997 as a particularly tough year, with temperatures as low as they are this week, coupled with a biting wind. Plungers have gone into the Tay in all conditions from freezing rain to sunshine and a balmy 7 C — a year when many swimmers never even bothered going back inside to warm up. Last winter, one of the swimmers was 82, but she’s undecided about whether to swim this year, he said. One swimmer is coming all the way from London, Ont., to take part, he said.
The Perth Polar Plunge costs $25 and begins with an 8 a.m. breakfast followed by a mandatory safety briefing and the swim itself at 10 a.m. Safety guidelines and more information are available on the event website, perthpolarplunge.ca
Firefighters from Tay Valley and Perth cut the hole in the ice and will be in the water in their cold-water suits as a safety measure. Paramedics will also be standing by.
This year’s charity is The Table Community Food Centre. bcrawford@postmedia.com Twitter.com/getBAC