Abstract
Tune in to the news on New Year’s Day and you can expect to see coverage of people lined up along rivers, lakes, or shorelines preparing to take the plunge. What drives people to jump into freezing water in the middle of winter? For some it’s fellowship and fun. Others say it’s a novel way to welcome the New Year and extend the celebration from the night before. Raising money for a good cause motivates some. Others see swimming as a spiritual exercise—a way to be reborn in the water on New Year’s Day. Tradition is also a factor—in Greek culture, the blessing of the waters takes place on Epiphany, January 6, and often includes a priest blessing a cross then casting it into the sea—the diver who recovers the cross is thought to have good fortune for the coming year. In Pittsburgh, the Polar Bear Plunge takes place at the Mon Wharf, where most regulars are seasoned cold-water swimmers, not once-a-year plungers.