Prince Rupert Rotary's Polar Bear Swim a No Plunge for second year in a row

There will be no Polar Bear Dip off the Rushbrook Floats Boat Ramp this year

Come the first day of 2022, there will be no official Polar Bear Swim to greet the new year in Prince Rupert.

For the second year in a Row, the Prince Rupert Rotary Club has announced that their annual festival of costumes and quick dips into cold waters will not take place, the Club having made the decision back in mid December.

The popular event had attracted large and enthusiastic crowds to the Rushbrook Floats boat launch in years prior to COVID, the event one which brought families and friends to the edge of the North Pacific Ocean for a quick dip in and then an even faster jog out and up the boat ramp, normally to awaiting hot chocolate, coffee and hot dogs.

A spot that normally attracts a good crowd to view the Polar Bear Swim,
the Pier at Rushbrook won't have quite the same volume of visitors
the New Years Day with the cancellation of the annual event

The Prince Rupert Club is not the only one to face a tough decision on the annual event, many organizers across the province have put their own Polar Bear Dips on hiatus for another year; many of them like Prince Rupert now going into a second year of COVID cancellations for the tradition.

As they note in their short advisory there are hopes for a resumption of the tradition when the calendar flips to 2023.

You can follow the Prince Rupert Rotarians from their Facebook page to see what plans are in motion for the year ahead. 

For a look at past community events see our archive page.