Question:
What's with these Polar Bear clubs? Are they unique to this country? And
how do these people not die of pneumonia?
Answer:
They're not unique to the US, no. There are some here, too, although
i can't remember off the top of my head what they call themselves.
Same idea, though - people who for reasons which i cannot fathom get
together in the middle of winter and throw themselves into ice cold
water. (This is not to be confused with sauna enthusiasts who throw
themselves into ice-cold water after a very hot sauna - a practice i
find just as bizarre but which at least i understand the origins of.)
As far as how they avoid hypothermia: The swimmers are all in good
physical health (even if their mental stability is questionable), they
don't stay in the water long, and they do take care to warm up quickly
afterwards.
As far as I can tell (I'm one of these swim-in-the-ocean-on-January-1 types,
by the way. I'm not sure if the Pacific Ocean counts, though. It's certainly
colder in summer than the Atlantic is, so I suspect it might.) there's not
a lot of health behind it. Other than proving that one is MANLY enough to do
such a thing. (Most of these Polar Bear clubs seem to be all-male organizations.
Further proof that women have more sense.) I guess this would be the oppisite
of a dick-size comparison. Of course, the *real* Polar Bear clubs are the guys in Michigan and that region
who cut holes in frozen lakes and swim in them.
