At 9:30 a.m. on New Year’s Day, a bull horn blaired and an army of New England residents plunged into South Boston’s icy Dorchester Bay.
swumming in southie
鈥 Carl Stevens (@carlwbz)
Six hundred people in various swimwear鈥攊ncluding Speedos, string bikinis, and Viking costumes鈥攑articipated in the Polar Plunge, which is sponsored by the L Street Brownies Swimming Club. The National Weather Service reports that the tempertature during this frigid baptism was 24 degrees.
鈥淭he air is so much warmer after you鈥檝e been in there. It鈥檚 just great! It鈥檚 awesome!鈥 one swimmer told
The event is a New Year’s tradition and has been held every year since 1904. Also, there is no charge to participate. Money raised from T-shirt sales and hot chocolate was donated to the South Boston Sports Hall of Fame Scholarship Fund and to the youth hockey association.
Images and video from Boston’s Polar Plunge: