Polar Bear Swim 2011 (91st Annual)

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
January 1, 2011

• History
• Safety Tips
• Statistics

The Vancouver Polar Bear Swim Club is one of the largest and oldest Polar Bear Clubs in the world. Its initial swim was in 1920 when a small number of hardy swimmers took the plunge into English Bay on New Year's Day. Led by their founder, Peter Pantages, the swim has grown from around 10 swimmers in that year to the new record of 2,246 official entries set this year (2011).

Today, the swim takes place at 2:30pm on the first day of each new year. Costumes and the Peter Pantages Memorial 100 yard swim race are the highlights of this event.

To be a club member you must register before the swim -- it's free. Registration takes place in front of the English Bay Bathhouse from 12:30pm - 2:30pm each New Year's Day. You may also register by clipping out the coupon in The Province and presenting it at the registration desk the day of the swim. Prizes are drawn from all registrations.

Donation of non-perishable food or cash accepted by the Greater Vancouver Food Bank.

For further information about the Vancouver Polar Bear Swim Club, contact: Glenn Schultz of the Vancouver Aquatic Centre.

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2011 Event Photo Gallery

Photos courtesy Cliff Lemire  -  Click on thumbnail to view full-size image

Paddlers enjoying a front row seat	Glenn Schultz, Supervisor of Beaches, starting the 2011 Polar Bear Swim	The Pantages' 100 yard race to the orange buoy	It's a beautiful Jan 1st day in Vancouver
It's a beautiful Jan 1st day in Vancouver	It's a beautiful Jan 1st day in Vancouver	Registration begins	Preparing for the annual dip
Captain Walrus, and handler Jayne from the new Hillcrest Pool	Capt. Walrus, Capt. Canuck and their penguin friends	Park Commissioner Sarah Blyth welcoming the friendly "Smurfs"	Arizonians being interviewed by Alan prior to "chilling" out
Racing into the starting gate positioning for the swim	Rallying courage to brave the waters of English Bay	It's OK mom, the inks dry & it won't wash off!	Who are all these people and why am I here?
Raring to get into the warm Pacific Ocean water	It was a record breaking crowd	Who needs Hawaii when you can be in Hollywood North	A Viking celebrating having conquered the waters of English Bay
The Vancouver West End Fire Hall swim team	"Thank you", "Thank you very much", it's all about the button.	A family of pirates that swims together plays together	Warm hearts overcome cold feet
The "Hamiltons" and a "wannabe" Hamilton	English Bay is a great place to meet people	Yeah, yeah I know, 29 year from 1983 - 2011 and I am missing my 2002 button	Peter Pantages Jr. presenting trophy to Ian Young & Zuzana Benkova with Park Chair Aaron Jasper, Commissioner Constance Barnes, & John Pantages (L)
The Pantages' Memorial Trophy Winners: 1st male Ian Young 1st female Zuszana Benkova , &	Colour us, Clowns!	The "crew" from 99.3 the FOX admiring the Peter Pantages' Memorial Trophy	Following the swim a Vancouver Sunset Jan. 1st 4:48 P.M.
Following the swim a Vancouver Sunset Jan. 1st 4:50 P.M.	A bird's eye view of English Bay	A panorama of the record breaking Vancouver 2011 Polar Swim (photo courtesy Maryse Pepin)

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2011 Event Statistics

	2010	2011
Air Temperature	9°C / 48°F	2°C / 36 °F
Water Temperature	7°C / 45°F	6°C / 44°F
Weather	Rain	Sunny
No. of Registered Swimmers (record 2,128 in 2000, previous record 2,095 in 1983)	1876	2246
Winner of the Peter Pantages Memorial Trophy	1st Ian Young 2nd Loughlan Rycroft 3rd Alamy Liu 1st female Kristy McIntyre	1st Ian Young 2nd Loughlan Rycroft 3rd Brett Newberry 1st female Zuzana Benkova
President Polar Bear Swim Club	Lisa Pantages	Lisa Pantages
Past President	Basil Pantages	Basil Pantages
Announcer	Sarah Goodman	Eric Chapman
Promotion and Commemorative Buttons	Province Newspaper, Vancouver Park Board, Pantages family, 99.3 the FOX	Province Newspaper, Vancouver Park Board, Pantages family, 99.3 the FOX
P.A. and Music	99.3 the FOX	99.3 the FOX
Safety and First Aid	Vancouver Park Board	Vancouver Park Board
Event Information	Glenn Schultz Vancouver Aquatic Centre 1050 Beach Avenue Vancouver, BC, V6E 1T7 Phone: 604-665-3418 Email: glenn.schultz@vancouver.ca

2011 Polar Bear Swim Prize Winners

Many thanks to the following companies who donated prizes to the 2011 swim :

99.3 THE FOX
AQUABUS
BLUE RUBY JEWELLERS
BOAT HOUSE RESTAURANT AT KITS BEACH
COCA-COLA
PROVINCE NEWSPAPER
STEPHO'S SOUVLAKI GREEK TAVERNA
VAN DUSEN GARDENS
VANCOUVER PARK BOARD

The following names were drawn for prizes from the signed entry forms received at English Bay Beach:

Austin Dumont Langley Baback Nikafter Richmond Brenna Kanski Vancouver Claire Wallace Vancouver Carlson Lacson New Westminster Colin Wells Vancouver Colleen Brown North Vancouver Courtney Brown Vancouver Damien Jowej Vancouver Elsa Berland Vancouver

Frederikke Johansen North Vancouver Gerry Enright Surrey Goran Cvijic Burnaby Jeff Scouten West Vancouver Kelly Forbes Coquitlam Konstantin Steshenko Vancouver Kristen Woolcock Vancouver Mai Shirai Vancouver Mathieu Martineau Vancouver Matthew Wallbank Surrey

Ria Zapf Coquitlam Reynolds Basil Vancouver Robert Chen Burnaby Scott Matson Langley Shannon Sawchenko Surrey Seremy Carvso Vancouver Tony Crawford-Rose Vancouver Will Farquharson West Vancouver Warren Westling Vancouver

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