Nearly 5,000 attempt polar bear dip world record in Washington
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Hundreds of New Yorkers braved the frigid waters of the Atlantic at Coney Island for the annual New Year’s Day Plunge. The tradition, held since 1903, raises funds for several community nonprofits.
Jan. 2 (UPI) — A Washington city may have broken a Guinness World Record by gathering nearly 5,000 people to take a "polar bear dip" into frigid water at the same time.
The Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce, Blaine Birch Bay Park and Recreation District 2 and Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism teamed up to organize an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest polar bear dip.
The record stood at 2,461 participants when the attempt was announced, but was broken Dec. 13 in Sola, Norway, when 3,134 people took a cold water plunge.
The Thursday attempt in Birch Bay had 6,213 registered participants, of which 4,917 were officially counted going into the water by Pacific Multisports.
Birch Bay State Park, Washington. (Getty Images/Lijuan Guo Photography)
Guinness World Record adjudicator Brittany Dunn said the record-keeping organization is still reviewing the official numbers, as there were some issues during the count.
"I was supposed to have the number before we started, but people entered the village without being counted officially over the scanner," Dunn told The Bellingham Herald. "Eventually we'll have a number, but it won't be totally accurate for the number of bibs that were given out because not everyone got successfully scanned."
The record required all participants to be clad only in swimsuits and shoes, with no wet suits or cold weather gear allowed. They had to spend at least 60 seconds in the water to qualify.
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