Coney Island Polar Bear Club New Year's Day Plunge - 2018
photo by Amanda Hatfield

Coney Island Polar Bear New Year's Day Swim 2018 in pics

Unlike New Year’s Day 2017, when temperatures surged to the 50s, 2018 got off to a very cold start in Brooklyn, with temperatures in Coney Island topping out around 17 degrees Fahrenheit. The cold didn’t deter the Coney Island Polar Bear Club, though. The group, which swims every Sunday from November until April, held their annual New Year’s Day plunge even as some New Jersey towns, including Ocean City, Ventnor, and Brigantine, cancelled or rescheduled theirs. Now on its 114th year, the Coney Island New Year’s Day plunge allows non-members to register to swim, raising money for charity in the process. This year, proceeds went to The NY Aquarium, The Alliance for Coney Island, and other local organizations.

While attendance was down from last year’s unseasonably warm swim, hundreds, wearing costumes, bathing suits, or their clothes, took a dip into the Atlantic, and plenty came to cheer them on and watch, as well. NY Daily News estimates over 1000 people swam on Monday afternoon. Check out our pictures in the gallery above.