New Years day morning.
Preparing for Polar Bear Plunge.
Also, trying to get rid of a nasty headache - so yes I did have fun on New Years Eve.
A little too much fun.
Thankfully I was feeling good when 12:30 rolled around.
I met my crazy swimming partner, cousin Colby.
I had heard 2 different accounts for what the plunge would be like.
Person 1 proceeded to tell me how horrible it was and that she would never ever do it again. She said the water was soooooo cold it sucks the air out of your lungs. She said she swam and swam and then felt like she couldn't make it any further and then realized she could touch the bottom of 1 mile pool. She said little kids were passing her! So she kept going and then she said she felt like her body was shutting down and that someone was going to have to fish her out. Somehow she made it.
Person 2 said it was a fun experience. Her advice was to take "wet" friends and "dry" friends. That once you got out of the water on the other side it felt warm. And she might be doing it again this year.
Colby and I before the big swim. It was sunny out and not windy. We were cold waiting.
We kept asking each other why we were doing this. Haha.
Then there was the question of whether we would be trampled or not by swimmers behind us. Colby reassured Aunt Tina by telling her she was an Orland Otter once. And somehow I managed to pass a lifeguard test in the past. Oh and the minor little fact that you can touch the bottom of the pool the entire way across was in our favor as well...and the water is extra low this year due to the drought.
Pre-jump there was strategizing. We both thought breast stroke was a good plan, try to keep our heads above water. The water was too low to shallow dive and try to get some distance that way. Colby decided she was going to run and jump out as far as she could. I was afraid to hit the bottom. I don't know what we actually did, but I'm pretty sure it was a few steps and in! SPLASH!
I knew the water was cold (37 degrees according to the news), but I don't remember it sucking the air out of me or feeling like I couldn't move. The whole time I just kept thinking...keep moving...keep moving.
The breast stroke idea didn't last very long - too slow, free style was the way to go.
Yes I could touch the bottom which was covered in moss and I think inhibited forward momentum more than it helped. I'm not sure how some people just walked across, because whenever I put my foot down it would just slip out from under me.
I could see Colby the whole time. She was always out in front of me, but I made it to the towels first. :) Getting out of the water it did feel warm and then my entire body felt like pins and needles were everywhere. It wasn't a bad feeling (not as bad as when your foot falls asleep), just a weird feeling.
Below is a screen shot from the Chico Enterprise Record Instagram. I'm famous!
Where's Jen in the picture below?
Butt towel. Colby's head got cut off. Can you guess what's on the front of the towel?
Next year I think I may go out just to people watch.
The End.
