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Come On In! The Water's . . . COLD: The Winter Carnival Polar Bear Swim
Will your child or grandchild be taking the plunge on Friday, February 8, at noon? That's when hundreds of Dartmouth students will steel themselves for the annual Polar Bear Swim at Occom Pond. A fairly recent addition to Winter Carnival, the Polar Bear Swim has become one of carnival's most popular events.
Two members of Dartmouth's Polar Bear Club organized an Occom Pond swim during 1992 Winter Carnival in what The Dartmouth student newspaper termed a “pseudospontaneous DOC event.” A year later about 20 students made the chilly swim during carnival, but it is Rachel R. Gilliar '98 who is credited with helping to establish it as an official event. Gilliar told The Dartmouth in 2001 that the swim quickly caught on, adding, “By the fourth year (1998) I heard people say, 'Oh, you have to do it—it's a tradition!'”
The 1998 swim was especially popular because that was the first year participants received a commemorative pin embossed with a polar bear. It was also the year Martha Stewart, thanks to a suggestion from her then-assistant Shawn Snipes '96, donated green and white towels to be awarded to the hardy swimmers.
Students leap into a large, rectangular opening in the pond, about 10 feet wide by 20 feet long, that is chainsawed into the ice by workers from Dartmouth's Facilities and Operations Management Department. The water at the chosen location is only about seven feet deep, but for added safety a rope is tied around the waist of every jumper. Other precautions include a blotter mat to prevent slipping on the ice, EMTs, and officers from Dartmouth Safety & Security, who oversee the event. After their speedy swim, students exit the pond via a safety ladder .
“It's one of those things that no one ever thinks is a good idea or will be fun,” admits Kathryn Andrews '09, a Maine native who participated in her first Polar Bear Swim last year. “And it was by far the coldest water I've ever experienced. Fortunately it doesn't last very long, just a couple of seconds, and then you're out and you get to brag about it for the rest of your life. So it's definitely worth it.”