Arctic front doesn't scare off 2015 Rhythm Ropers Polar Bear Swimmers
By Nelson Daily Staff
What’s a cold Arctic air front to enthusiastic Polar Bear Swimmers?
Nothing!
More than 75 brave, hardy, souls flocked to Nelson’s Lakeside Park beach to take the plunge into Kootenay Lake at the 2015 Rhythm Ropers Polar Bear Swim Thursday at High Noon.
And it didn’t matter the age, swimmers young and old made the sprint, in and out, of the frigid waters of Kootenay Lake to ring in the New Year before a crowd of 300 spectators.
With the thermometer hovering between minus 6 and 8 Celsius mark, Executive Director at Nelson and District Chamber of Commerce and Rhythm Ropers volunteer Tom Thomson counted down the seconds before the Nelson Search and Rescue Boat sounded the horn for the mad dash to the waters of Kootenay Lake.
Nelson Search and Rescue were on hand with a man in a dry suit standing in the water and boat in the lake in case anyone came under duress in the water.
Everyone entered and left Kootenay Lake without assistance so the only thing both emergency services groups were needed for was to join hundreds of spectators and enjoy what proved to be an amazing event.
The event is a fundraiser for the Nelson Rhythm Ropers Skippers, which provided warm drinks to all participants and spectators.
Rhythm Ropers Skippers is the Nelson-based jump rope team, which has achieved recognition provincially, nationally and internationally with their incredible displays of skill in skipping.
The Rhythm Ropers wow audiences whenever they perform and are the subject of conversation everywhere.
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