For the third year in a row, I've gone to Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro to watch and photograph the Polar Bears. What are Polar Bears you ask? Well, they are the brave (crazy) souls who participate in the first swim of the new year. It's been a tradition for 59 years and very popular, judging by the crowd who showed up this year, January 1, 2011. San Pedro's representative on the Los Angeles City Council, Janice Hahn, has shown up every year since taking office. The Polar Bears founder, John Olguin, told Janice that no other councilperson had participated until she started.
The crowd slowly gathered until the appointed time of noon when the King and Queen would start their procession to water with all swimmers following them. Because of beach erosion, there was a steep drop from the spot where you see people standing to where my son and his friend are digging. It was a little tough for some folks (me included) to climb back up that slope.
The 2011 King and Queen are crowned and given due honor.
Councilwoman Hahn led the crowd with God Bless America. We were instructed to sing it loud enough to be heard at Catalina Island.
The King and Queen make their way.
My son and friend after their swim.
And posing with Janice Hahn who made them promise to do it again next year.
It was announced that John Olguin passed away that very morning. Not only was he a founder of the Cabrillo Beach Polar Bears, he was at every swim. His contributions to San Pedro are too numerous to mention, but this article summarizes them well:
http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_16990977?source=rss_viewed
Here's to 2011 and all the good things we hope it brings!
