{"id":112980,"date":"2025-12-30T01:19:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T01:19:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/112980\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T01:19:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T01:19:18","slug":"sewage-spill-could-still-impact-74th-san-pedro-polar-bear-swim-on-new-years-day-daily-breeze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/112980\/","title":{"rendered":"Sewage spill could still impact 74th San Pedro Polar Bear swim on New Year\u2019s Day \u2013 Daily Breeze"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/p>\n

The King and Queen for the upcoming New Year\u2019s Day Polar Bear Swim, Stephen M. White and Mon\u00ed Olgu\u00edn, visit Cabrillo Beach on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, in San Pedro. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The King and Queen for the upcoming New Year\u2019s Day Polar Bear Swim, Stephen M. White and Mon\u00ed Olgu\u00edn, visit Cabrillo Beach on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, in San Pedro. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The King and Queen for the upcoming New Year\u2019s Day Polar Bear Swim, Stephen M. White and Mon\u00ed Olgu\u00edn, visit Cabrillo Beach on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, in San Pedro. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The annual Polar Bear Swim took place at Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro Jan. 1, 2025\/ Between 600-800 usually participate with hundreds more turning out to watch and cheer it on. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The annual Polar Bear Swim took place at Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro Jan. 1, 2025\u2026Between 600-800 usually participate with hundreds more turning out to watch and cheer it on. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The annual Polar Bear Swim took place at Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro Jan. 1, 2025\u2026Between 600-800 usually participate with hundreds more turning out to watch and cheer it on. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The annual Polar Bear Swim took place at Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro Jan. 1, 2025\u2026Between 600-800 usually participate with hundreds more turning out to watch and cheer it on. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The annual Polar Bear Swim took place at Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro Jan. 1, 2025\u2026Between 600-800 usually participate with hundreds more turning out to watch and cheer it on. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The annual Polar Bear Swim took place at Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro Jan. 1, 2025\u2026Between 600-800 usually participate with hundreds more turning out to watch and cheer it on. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The annual Polar Bear Swim took place at Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro Jan. 1, 2025\u2026Between 600-800 usually participate with hundreds more turning out to watch and cheer it on. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Swimmers<\/p>\n

Swimmers participate in a past New Year\u2019s Day Polar Bear Plunge at La Jolla Shores. This year\u2019s event is Wednesday, Jan. 1. (Sam Hodgson)\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The annual Polar Bear Swim took place at Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro Jan. 1, 2025\u2026Between 600-800 usually participate with hundreds more turning out to watch and cheer it on. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Hundreds<\/p>\n

Hundreds gather to take a dip in the ocean to celebrate the New Year at Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro, CA as part of the annual Polar Bear Plunge on Jan. 1st, 2024. (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Hundreds<\/p>\n

Hundreds gather to take a dip in the ocean to celebrate the New Year at Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro, CA as part of the annual Polar Bear Plunge on Jan. 1st, 2024. (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Hundreds<\/p>\n

Hundreds gather to take a dip in the ocean to celebrate the New Year at Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro, CA as part of the annual Polar Bear Plunge on Jan. 1st, 2024. (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Participants<\/p>\n

Participants who chose to ignore warnings of bacteria at the annual Polar Bear Swim enter the water on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023, at Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The annual Polar Bear swim, which dates back seven decades, will take place on Sunday, Jan. 1, after being canceled the previous two years, first because of the coronavirus pandemic and then because of a sewage spill. This file photo shows a girl splashing around during the 2020 polar swim. (File photo by Ana P. Garcia, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

An early photo of participants in the Cabrillo Beach Polar Bear Club\u2019s New Year\u2019s Day swim. (file photo)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 18<\/p>\n

The King and Queen for the upcoming New Year\u2019s Day Polar Bear Swim, Stephen M. White and Mon\u00ed Olgu\u00edn, visit Cabrillo Beach on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, in San Pedro. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

As a 74-year-old tradition, San Pedro\u2019s annual New Year\u2019s Day Polar Bear swim at Cabrillo Beach doesn\u2019t see a lot of change \u2014 let alone disruption.<\/p>\n

But this year, a couple of curve balls have been thrown into the mix, including a rain forecast and a 10,000-gallon sewage spill that closed the beach on Christmas Eve<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And that sewage spill, as of Monday, Dec. 29, appeared to be unresolved.<\/p>\n

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said in a statement that the ocean water closure remained in effect as of 4 p.m. Monday, with more testing to be completed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis morning at 8:19 a.m. we issued a notification that the Rain Advisory for Los Angeles County Beaches was lifted,\u201d the emailed statement said. \u201c(But) this did not include the ocean water closure due to the sewage spill affecting Cabrillo Beach. At 10:30 a.m. our team member was collecting samples at Cabrillo Beach and identified that the closure signs were removed. They reposted the closure signs with assistance from the lifeguards. The ocean water closure remains in effect, and a notification will be sent to the lifeguards to keep the signs posted.\u201d<\/p>\n

That appears to leave the New Year\u2019s Day event a bit up in the air, said Polar Bear President Lisa Guerr, who added that she will be relying on word from the lifeguards.<\/p>\n

\u201cI left it as, \u2018You let us know if you\u2019re going to close the beach or pull out the lifeguards,\u2019\u201d Guerr said late Monday, \u201cso we\u2019ll have to wait to see what the lifeguards say.\u201d<\/p>\n

A response in an inquiry earlier Monday from Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn\u2019s office said that if the tests revealed high bacteria, DPH would not be able to lift the ocean water closure by New Year\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope they will be able to safely reopen Cabrillo in time for the New Year\u2019s Day Polar Plunge,\u201d Hahn said in a statement. \u201cWe are all hoping the tests are good and we get a reprieve from the rain, at least for a little while. The Polar Plunge is one of my favorite San Pedro traditions and I know so many of my fellow Polar Bears will be disappointed if it gets cancelled.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2021, the swim also was canceled because of a sewage leak<\/a>. The year before, it was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

This year, meanwhile, could still see rain during the event, though that is not expected to pose a separate water precaution at Cabrillo Beach, according to DPH.<\/p>\n

The chance of rain, according to AccuWeather\u2019s Thursday morning forecast for San Pedro<\/a>, is 91% \u2014 though that drops to 60% by afternoon. Those forecasts were posted as of Monday, Dec. 29.<\/p>\n

For the most part, though, a bit of rain \u2014 it has happened before on a handful of occasions \u2014 won\u2019t hold back the stalwarts who launch the first day of the new year at San Pedro\u2019s beach, with a bracing swim or dunk in natural salt water, no matter how cold it might be. The water temperature typically is in the high 50s or low 60s, with the air temperature this year expected to be in the lower 60s.)<\/p>\n

The rain, Guerr said, \u201cis definitely going to affect the crowd size. But we\u2019ll be there setting up, the lifeguards will be there and we\u2019ll see how it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even with unusual wet weather, the swim tends to have reliable participation.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s swim \u201cking,\u201d Stephen M. White of San Pedro (no connection to the historical figure), said that swimming, catching a wave or diving off Cabrillo Beach is a way of life.<\/p>\n

The experience, the civil engineer and married father of two adult children said in a written biography, \u201cis invigorating.\u201d It could be a short swim at Cabrillo, an hour sail to the Point Fermin Buoy or a day snorkeling off Catalina Island, he said.<\/p>\n

The 2026 \u201cqueen\u201d grew up in a storied San Pedro household. The daughter of the late John and Muriel Olguin, Moni Olguin was immersed in the tradition, which her father and another lifeguard at Cabrillo Beach began many years ago. But the former school teacher and administrator only started swimming daily at the beach about a year and a half ago.<\/p>\n

She now also sings with her band, The Mourners, and paints and writes. The ocean, she said, has inspired her music in recent years.<\/p>\n

San Pedro\u2019s Polar Bear New Year\u2019s swim tradition began sometime during the late 1940s<\/a>, with a group of Los Angeles County lifeguards at Cabrillo Beach, including John Olguin and Jack Cheaney, who would took an annual casual plunge every Jan. 1.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not known exactly what year that first informal dip occurred, but curious onlookers eventually began to show up to watch, with some wanting to join in. So Olguin and Cheaney formed the Cabrillo Beach Polar Bears, a club that\u2019s still active, encourages daily swims in the ocean and sponsors the annual plunge. Olguin\u2019s wife, Muriel, designed the club logo \u2014 which is still in use today.<\/p>\n

As for the annual swims, club members would meet in the fall to elect a Polar Bear Swim king and queen. They\u2019d arrive at Cabrillo Beach in a boat, disembark and lead the swimmers into the ocean at noon on every New Year\u2019s Day. That tradition remains.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a great tradition in San Pedro,\u201d said Guerr, a daily ocean swimmer, \u201cand this year we have Moni Olguin, so there\u2019s lot of tradition with San Pedro and the Polar Bears. It\u2019s a great way to start the new year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The the salt water, she said, \u201cjust helps to energize you. I almost get a natural adrenaline rush going into the colder water.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the sewage leak and the prospects of the swim happening \u2014 stay tuned.<\/p>\n

The Cabrillo Beach event attracts people of all ages and offers certificates, hot chocolate and cupcakes afterward on the beach to participants.<\/p>\n

Those planning to attend, if the swim goes on, are advised to arrive early. Festivities open at 11:30 a.m. with the ceremony to crown the new king and queen. The mass charge into the water starts promptly at noon. The beach is at 3720 Stephen M. White Drive.<\/p>\n

SCNG staff writer Sam Gnerre contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The King and Queen for the upcoming New Year\u2019s Day Polar Bear Swim, Stephen M. White and Mon\u00ed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112981,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7,3172,131,133,132,47,137,53102,100,1439],"class_list":{"0":"post-112980","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-long-beach","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-harbor-area","10":"tag-long-beach","11":"tag-long-beach-headlines","12":"tag-long-beach-news","13":"tag-los-angeles","14":"tag-los-angeles-county","15":"tag-new-years-day","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-san-pedro"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112980\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}