Vancouverites ring in new year with polar bear swim

The 96th annual Vancouver Polar Bear Swim was held here on New Year's Day, inviting hundreds of locals to plunge into the icy sea.

Although it was a sunny day, the temperature was around two degrees Celsius and the water temperature was not much warmer than that.

The New Year's Day event has become a tradition in cities and towns across Canada, with the first such event taking place in Vancouver in 1920.

Many of the participants view the event as a good way to "plunge" into the New Year and wash away any troubles from the year before, said Jamie Rage, one of the swimmers.

"It's a new beginning .. it's like a baptismal. That's what it is, isn't it? You go in, you come out, and you're all new again," he said.

For 64-year-old Ken Hamilton, the swim has been a family tradition for the past four decades.

"The family started in 1975. I started in 1976, and we've done it every year since then, never missed any of it," he said.

Hamilton said his reason for taking the icy plunge every year is simple.

"It's refreshing. You wait for it and you wait for it. You finally get the bell to go and yeah it's very refreshing," he said.

"It's a wonderful thing and I can't wait for next year," he added.

In recent years, the Polar Bear Swim in Vancouver has attracted more than 2,500 people each year, making it the country's largest organized polar bear swim and one of the largest in the world. Endi