Cold legs, warm heart!

Cold water swimming has been a tradition in Eastern European countries for hundreds of years and the excitement of this type of event has now become a tradition all over the world, even in Nyack!  

When people plunge into the welcoming waters of the Hudson at Memorial Park, they might be veteran cold water swimmers, or doing it for the first time, and they always leave with a warm heart and warm memories!  A lot of the people who might be considering plunging in for the first time this year, might want to know if there is a way to prepare.

Other than common sense ways of taking care of yourself and being healthy enough to do this kind of activity, there really isn't anything that is proven to prepare for this type of swimming.

In the past,  we have had two young  girls practice by taking cold water showers in their bathing suits or making snow angels in swimwear, but I am not convinced that it helped them.  But then, Jackie and Mackenzie have been doing the Penguin Plunge for more than three years, so something is working for them!  I personally commit to wearing shorts from now until Penguin Plunge day (unless it is socially inappropriate!)  In some way, it helps me to get used to the idea of being cold, and knowing that I can stand it for a few minutes!

So if you happen to see some people walking around in shorts in frigid weather, and they are not mailmen or UPS workers, you might want to find out if they are planning to plunge on March 3, with the Penguins!