Who is a Real Polar Bear Swimmer?

With cold weather still prevalent in much of the Northern Hemisphere, we thought we would take another look at Polar Bear Swims.

The Gar Woods Polar Bear Swim in Carnelian Bay, California can be seen at



The popular Vancouver Polar Bear Swim in Canada can be seen at



The 1.2-mile Maui Polar Bear Fin Swim touts itself as the only "Sane Polar Bear Swim in the World." The 10th annual event took place on January 25th in Hawaii. The swim takes place over mostly colorful coral reefs in Makena on Malu'aka Beach.

But perhaps the real polar bear of the human race is currently Lewis Gordon Pugh whose North Pole Challenge can be seen here:

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Most recently, Ram Barkai, sponsor of the Cadiz Freedom Swim, and Andrew Chin, have established themselves as worthy challengers for the title of the world's toughest human polar bear. Ram (shown on the left in Antarctica) and Andrew recently 2K and 1K respectively in the 4°C (39.2°F) waters of Lake Zurich on January 30th with the air temperature of 0°C (32°F) and a wind chill factor of -7°C (19.4°F). More details on Ram and Andrew tomorrow.