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The Group Portrait: Coney Island's Ice Patrol
New York magazine
|February 14-27, 2022
"These winter bathers have been swimming (and shivering) for decades. They swear they enjoy it."
To Earn a Spot in the Coney Island Polar Bear Club, one needs to do more than demonstrate a willingness to charge into the icy waters of the Atlantic. Out of the dozens of swimmers who try to join every year, the club generally admits around five. Membership currently hovers around 170 people, in part for insurance reasons, and even those selected through an annual lottery must complete 12 swims and pass a vote of existing members.
This story is from the February 14-27, 2022 edition of New York magazine.
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