Photo by David Greene
For the first time in over thirty years, the Bronx Polar Bears Club cancelled its annual St. Valentine’s Day swim at Orchard Beach, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Saturday, February 13, Anna Romanovich of Brooklyn, a 10-year member of the club, said, “This year is the first year we will have to skip the annual arctic adventure, a frosty tradition that brought the Polar Bear plunge to the Bronx.” The annual event sponsored by BronxNet and BronxWorks, helps raise funds and brings awareness to local groups working with the homeless.
Romanovich continued, “This year, it’s become yet another casualty of the pandemic. We need the release of the icy escape more than ever, to say nothing of the homeless who are under more pressure during these times.”
Photo by David Greene
Still, she said the group have great memories of past events, explaining that members have been sharing photos and memories online in recent weeks. She added, “This year the Polar Bear community will have to look forward to a post-pandemic plunge next year.”
According to the National Institute of Health, cold water or ice swimming is gaining in popularity as a sports discipline. The institute warns, however, that people should consider both the risks and benefits of the activity.
Swimming in cold water as an athlete is different to immersion in cold water for non-athletes. Athletes compete at rather high intensity for several minutes while non-athletes remain for a few minutes without physical activity.
Photo by David Greene
According to the Institute, when cold water swimming is practiced by people with good general health in a regular, graded (go with the season) and adjusted mode, it appears to bring about some health benefits. On the other hand, there is a risk of death for those unfamiliar with the practice.
This can also occur when such an activity is inadequately adapted, either due to the initial neurogenic cold shock response, or due to a progressive decrease in swimming efficiency or progressive hypothermia.
Speaking through a translator, Bronxite, Vladis Freimane, a founding member of the Bronx Polar Bears, who helped create the annual St. Valentine’s Day swim event and who has never missed one, told the Norwood News, “I want to enjoy all of it, and show people that the beach in the winter is fun too. I also think that it strengthens my immune system, and keeps me younger looking, despite being 80-plus.”
He added, “The cold dips in the ocean is like meditation to me. I feel refreshed every time I come out of the cold water.”
Meanwhile, anyone wishing to donate to the homeless could do so by visiting Bronxworks’s website, for example, here.
*Síle Moloney contributed to this story.
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.
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