500 Yelping Polar Bears
Cabrillo Beach Den Hosts New Year’s Day Swim 2005  

     More than 500 people welcomed 2005 by rushing into the 58-degree  surf  at Cabrillo   Beach   at noon on January 1.  Despite sobering reports of the devastation caused by the tsunamis in the Indian Ocean and days of rain and gray, cold weather, the atmosphere was filled with excitement and even a bit of sun.
     The 54th Cabrillo Beach Polar Bear Swim ceremony began as the crowd shared a moment of silence for the victims of the tsunamis.  Everyone then joined in the Pledge of Allegiance and God Bless America. John Olguin provided a brief history of the New Year’s Day swim. The youngest participant, six months; the oldest, 84 years; and the person from the farthest distance, Germany , were recognized. Councilwoman Janice Hahn, a veteran of the New Year’s Day swim, addressed the crowd. Later she was seen enjoying the heavy surf. 
     The outgoing King and Queen, Martin Donohue and Beatrice Smart then crowned the 2005 King and Queen, Lou Mannick and Candace Gwane. Finally the crowd warmed up with a short grunion dance and rushed into the water behind the King and Queen.
     After diving into the bracing water with yelps of surprise and awe, everyone was given certificates and enjoyed cupcakes, hot cocoa and coffee.
     The Cabrillo Beach Polar Bears’ New Year’s Day swim first started in 1936 when a group of teenagers came to the beach for a swim and cocoa on the first day of the year. The next year they repeated the swim and also crowned a “King Neptune.” The annual swim  continued again after  WWII. It has taken place every year since 1953. Two plaques in the lobby of the recently restored Cabrillo Beach Bathhouse list each King and Queen from 1953 through 2005. The Polar Bears’ locker room also has photographs of royalty dating back as far as 1957.
     Since its restoration, the Department of Recreation and Parks’ Cabrillo Beach Bathhouse has been a hub of many activities; the volunteers of the Cabrillo Beach Polar Bears and the Cabrillo Beach Bathhouse Boosters organize many  like this invigorating annual swim.