T-SHIRTS, HATS, LAPEL PINS NOW AVAILABLE

Seventeenth Annual Event Annual Date Number of "Swimmers" Air Temp Water Temp 17th 01/01/2003 800 +28°F +33°F

Part of the crowd waiting for the countdown

The night before the 17th Annual Swim, the shore was ice-free and snow-free, but the following morning so much slush ice had been pushed in by the waves that some early swimmers found their legs scratched and bleeding from small ice cuts. The men in red cleared several paths to the open water, but it took some time for all participants to get wet and get out. Nature, you are a cruel mother. At least no cameramen fell into the water this year, but some wore waders to get a fish’s eye view. Several shoes and other artifacts were left behind. Contact J.R. Jarosh if any of these might be worth reclaiming. Official PBC T-shirts, hats and other items are now available; Contact Sue Jarosh for ordering instructions or download the order form here. Proceeds go to the Jacksonport Fire Dept. Order form is in PDF format  The Jacksonport Craft Cottage across the street from Lakeside Park also stocks Polar Bear Paraphernalia in the warmer seasons. The Green Bay Gazette has an article about this year's swim. All pictures shown for this year were taken by Laddie Chapman. If you can play MP3 audio files, you can download a short file (800K) of Polar Bear Swim sounds from last year, 2002

Real polar bears do it in bikinis Someone took a wrong turn at Nome

Cheeseheads, Packers & Polar Bears go together

True love

Anticipation

Getting in and out required waiting in line due to freaky ice conditions

Pretty to look at, tricky to swim in

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