No Polar Bear Swim in Port Alberni? No problem.
There was no official Polar Bear Swim for Port Alberni this yr, however that didn’t cease a number of folks from greeting 2023 with a frigid dip within the waters across the metropolis.
David Wiwchar and a number of other associates held a “Are available in From the Chilly” fundraiser for his or her casual Polar Bear Swim, elevating greater than $150 for the warming centre on Third Avenue. 5 swimmers—Wiwchar, Michael Ramsay from the Salvation Military, Dan and Bouchra Savard and Jeff Cook dinner—ran down one of many boat ramps at Clutesi Haven Marina at midday on New Yr’s Day for a fast dunk, presenting Ramsay with the money raised for the warming centre earlier than rapidly dispersing to their automobiles.
A gentle trickle of individuals went to Canal Seashore to dunk themselves within the Alberni Inlet. Heather Neville, 69, a retired nurse, stated this New Yr’s Day dip was a lot hotter than final yr, when she accomplished her swim on Prince Edward Island—in -20 levels Celsius climate.
She was on her option to change when some Alberni District Secondary College college students and associates arrived to go for a swim. Neville determined to return into the water with them.
The scholars have been there to help Totem Spirit candidate Macee Norlock, who determined every week earlier to get a gaggle of associates collectively for a casual Polar Bear Swim. “I requested folks in the event that they wished to come back and do it with me and a few stated sure,” Norlock stated afterwards.
She was not a beginner to the cold-water dip: she used to attend the New Yr’s Day occasions together with her mother and father when she was youthful.
Hannah Rust, Melissa Pesch, Claire McAulay and Kyle Ralston all doffed their Totem “Crew Macee” shirts earlier than working into the water.
Different swimmers, some not but 10 years outdated, and others just a few a long time older, got here and went all through the early afternoon, because the solar shone on the seashore.
susie.quinn@albernivalleynews.com
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Alberni ValleyNew Yr’sPort Alberni
Melissa Pesch, Claire McAulay, Hannah Rust and Macee Norlock, with Heather Neville in entrance, run into the Alberni Inlet at Canal Seashore on Jan. 1, 2023 for a casual Polar Bear Swim. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley Information)
Melissa Pesch, visiting from Capilano Faculty, left, Claire McAulay, Macee Norlock and Hannah Rust all put on shirts supporting Norlock, who’s one among seven Totem Spirit candidates competing within the 67th annual Totem match at ADSS (Jan. 5-7, 2023). (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley Information)
