"I always tell them they are welcome to scream"

"After three decades, Dennis Thomas’s winter Sundays are no longer shocking. They are just cold. From November to April, Mr. Thomas, 59, charges into the Atlantic Ocean, along with other members of the Coney Island Polar Bear Club; he has been the group’s president for five years. This year, the club’s premier event on New Year’s Day drew 2,000 swimmers and 6,000 spectators and raised $65,000 for children with serious illnesses. On any given Sunday, 80 to 100 members show up at the New York Aquarium for the frosty frolic — neoprene bootees allowed. The lowest water temperature recorded for a swim was 32 degrees one February. Mr. Thomas, the director of global branding for the technology company SAP, lives alone in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. He suspects that his 25-year-old daughter thinks he is crazy."


From November to April

"ATTENTION! At 1 o’clock, I usually make some announcements. Then we walk out toward the beach. When I joined, the president always blew a conch shell to summon everybody. I am terrible, it’s just embarrassing, and I’d rather not do it, but it’s such a nice tradition. It sounds like a seal being beaten with a club."

"IMMERSION We all go in together. I always go in at least to my neck, sometimes dunk my head. When everyone’s in, traditionally we form a huge circle, everyone holding hands for a few minutes and howling. We throw tennis balls around. It’s a free swim at that point. I look around and all I see are people laughing and cheering and having the best time. It’s absolutely amazing."

"POST-SWIM Most of us are in for about 10 minutes. If it gets really brutal out, it would probably go down to three or four minutes. I know if I overdo it, the first thing I’ll notice is that my speech is slurring a little bit. We change clothes, have some coffee and tea, people disperse."

NYT: Shepherding the Coney Island Polar Bear Club