Temps, swimmers to take freezing dip
A little chill won’t put damper on tradition
The predicted wind chill of 13 below zero won’t be so wicked pissah, but Monday’s L Street Brownies New Year’s Day plunge into Boston Harbor is so on, organizer Dan Monahan says.
“It’s a go. It’s always a go. We never give up,” Monahan vowed yesterday, fresh off an invigorating swim Wednesday in 28-degree surf.
“We’re stubborn people in Boston. We’re about tradition,” he said. “OK, so it’s cold. You can’t let it beat you. We’re mentally tough people. This is hardcore.”
Lenore Correia, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton, said the forecast calls for a temperature of 4 degrees when swimmers get the 9 a.m. signal to take the dive. With the wind chill, Correia said it will feel like 13 below.
The record low in Boston on New Year’s Day — not counting wind chill — is 3 degrees below zero, which was set in 1918, she said.
“It’s a dip. It’s not really a swim. People run in and they run out. It’s for adults, and you make your adult decisions for yourself,” said Monahan, interim director of the Boston Centers for Youth and Families’ Curley Community Center in South Boston, where he was born and raised.
“It’s the craziest thing, but you feel great when you do this,” he said. “It’s a fun time. It’s about a fresh new start, healthy living and challenging yourself. It’s not a hangover cure.”
America’s granddaddy of “polar bear” clubs opens up its swim to the public for free. This year’s event drew 500 daredevils who took the plunge on a New Year’s Day when the mercury soared to the mid-40s.
John Somers, a member of the L Street Bathhouse but not a Brownie, walked into the water yesterday as the sun dipped over the horizon and the icy wind howled.
“There are still some guys out there — two or three that I know — that are still going a mile a day. Some will do a quarter. Some will do a half,” Somers said. “It sure feels good to take a dip and go into the sauna. You get a good sweat going.”
About 20 diehard Brownies try to swim year-round. The Brownies are so named, Monahan explained, for when members would sit out all day, tanning their hides until they looked like leather.
He reminds 2018 first-time plungers, “You don’t have to really prove yourself that day. You can always wait until next year.”
Doors will open at the center’s M Street entrance off Columbia Road at 8:15 a.m. Participants must be 16 years or older. Because of the extreme cold, Monahan recommends keeping children under 12 at home. Pets are not allowed in the center or on the beach. Alcohol is also banned.
There are no changing rooms. Monahan recommends dressing light because heavy clothing can quickly weigh swimmers down. Footwear must be worn at all times, including in the water. Participants should come prepared with a second pair of dry shoes to slip into when they get back to the beach.
“I just want everybody safe,” Monahan said. “I want as many people walking out the door as walked in.”