A photo recap of what happened at the 2018 Polar Bear Swim

On November 30, over 100 students ran into the frigid waters of Wreck Beach. With the air temperature hovering around 5 degrees Celsius and the water temperature around 8.7 degrees Celsius, many students braved the risk of hypothermia and got a sweet, sweet dose of adrenaline. Here’s an account of what happened from the brave souls who took the plunge.

“I only came to UBC for the polar bear swim and I can drop out now and feel at peace.”

“It was peer-pressure.”

“I had a friend running like two metres in front of me and I saw him take a dip and I wasn’t ready and it was just like, ‘Oh my god, I have to, I have to, I have to’ and then I did it. And it was of course super horrible, but it was also really nice.”

“We’re on exchange and we thought it would be nice to join in on the cultural tradition.”

“Literally I couldn’t even think — it was just so cold.”

“I’ve done polar plunges like this before, but never this cold.”

“We’re gonna do one little swimmy boy and walk back out.”

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