Lifestyle
Texans Take the Polar Plunge in Barton Springs and on North Beach
While many Texans may have been nursing a hangover from New Years Eve parties the previous night, others were waking up at the crack of dawn to jump into the water! In Austin, freezing temperatures didn’t keep people away from taking the Barton Springs Polar Bear Splash, and in Corpus Christi, swimmers took the North Beach Polar Bear Plunge.
On December 29, Austin 360 wrote that the Barton Springs Polar Bear Splash was still on in Austin even though officials knew it would be a freezing cold day. On New Years Day, KXAN wrote that hundreds of people showed up at the pool to take the cleansing dip to start off the New Year right. The water was a “warm” 68 degrees compared to the freezing outside air. The event was free and hosted by the Save Our Springs Alliance.
KRIS TV says that approximately 200 people braved the North Beach Polar Bear Plunge which raises money for ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease.) Video on the KIII 3 News Facebook page shows the excited group running straight into the Gulf of Mexico. In their case, the water was 14 degrees warmer than the temperature outside which was a chilling 34 degrees.
The Polar Plunge out on North Beach was a big hit this year despite the 34 degree weather outside. Now once in the water it was a balmy 48 degrees.
Posted by KIII 3 News on Monday, January 1, 2018
