Q: What are the dangers of cold-water swimming?

A: Clearly these people [Polar Bear Club members] have done it before so they are a bit more acclimated than an average person. People with high blood pressure and heart disease should not do this.

Q: What happens to your body when you first jump into cold-water?
There’s an immediate step of reflexes that occur that can be dangerous such as rapid breathing, hyperventilization, rapid heartbeat, and the sudden elevation of blood pressure. All of that is called the cold shock reflex.

Q: What happens after that?
A: The reflex lasts for a minute or two and then goes away. After two minutes everything slows down, and some things are a little more at tenable. The risk of hypothermia is not very much in the few minutes, there is almost no risk.

Q: Are there any health benefits to cold-water swimming?
A: I can’t think of any health benefits except for the Polar Bear’s it’s fun, they gain some self-confidence it’s a good positive feedback. For them here’s a very harsh environment and they have survived. The other advantage is if they ever get into an accident they will have a better chance of surviving, and it won’t be a shock for them.

Q: What kind of person would deal best in cold-water?
A: The bigger and fatter you are the longer you will survive, there’s the one advantage of being obese. The closer your body shape is to a sumo wrestler, the longer you will survive. So the average person can be a polar bear you don’t have to be a triathelete to do it.