{"id":382876,"date":"2026-01-02T03:56:06","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T03:56:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/382876\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T03:56:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T03:56:06","slug":"thousands-flood-birch-bay-in-attempt-to-break-world-record-for-largest-polar-bear-dip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/382876\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands flood Birch Bay in attempt to break world record for largest polar bear dip"},"content":{"rendered":"

BIRCH BAY \u2014\u00a0Thousands of community members from across the region, and some from across the country,\u00a0crowded the Birch Bay waterfront on New Year\u2019s Day to take part in a potentially world record-breaking polar bear dip.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At around 12:30 p.m., the bay was filled with people dancing and hugging each\u00a0other as they tried to stay warm until getting the OK to leave the water.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

For 43 years, a polar plunge\u00a0has\u00a0taken place\u00a0on New Year\u2019s Day at the Birch Bay waterfront. In 2025, 1,600 people\u00a0participated.<\/p>\n

In February, the Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce announced its intention to beat the Guinness World Record for the largest polar bear dip, a record which at the time was held by a group in Most, Czech Republic, with 2,461 participants.<\/p>\n

But on Dec. 13, 2025, a group at \u00d8lberg Beach in Sola, Norway broke the record with 3,134 participants.\u00a0That upped the pressure for Birch Bay.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time to show Norway how Birch Bay does winter \u2014\u00a0with heart, hype and a whole lot of community spirit,\u201d the chamber wrote in a press release just after the news from Norway.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gallery: New Year\u2019s Day 2026 polar bear dip in Birch Bay<\/a><\/p>\n

More than 4,910 people picked up participant bibs in Birch Bay this morning, according to Pacific\u00a0Multisports<\/a>, which tracked some of the data for the event.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0well above the number needed, but it\u2019s\u00a0still\u00a0unclear whether the\u00a0effort actually broke\u00a0the record.<\/p>\n

Guinness\u00a0World Records\u00a0has\u00a0strict guidelines: participants had to wear a swimsuit and shoes, enter the water when directed, remain waist-deep for 60\u00a0seconds and then exit the water when directed. No costumes, wetsuits, drysuits or shirts\u00a0were allowed.\u00a0Participants were counted by passing over a timing mat at the edge of the beach. Their bibs contained an RFID chip.<\/p>\n

At 11:30\u00a0a.m., participants started moving into the beach area, skipping\u00a0rocks\u00a0and removing clothing as they waited for the police siren \u2014 their signal to run into the water \u2014 to go off.<\/p>\n

An hour later,\u00a0the siren\u00a0hadn\u2019t\u00a0sounded. A cheer\u00a0of\u00a0\u201clet\u2019s go swimming\u201d\u00a0emerged\u00a0from the crowd. But a\u00a0few minutes later,\u00a0off they went.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Nancy Fisher of Ferndale reacts as a friend helps her fully submerge. (Andy Bronson<\/a>\/Cascadia Daily News)<\/p>\n

The idea of being part of a world record was exciting\u00a0to\u00a0participants.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy life goal since I was a kid was to have a Guinness World Record, so\u00a0hopefully\u00a0we get this,\u201d said Pidge Pasquale, 26, from Kingston, Kitsap County.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A\u00a0New Year\u2019s Day\u00a0polar plunge is a tradition for Parker Dante, a 27-year-old from Bellevue who has done one every year since age 5.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the biggest one\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0ever done,\u201d Dante said. \u201cThis was huge.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jacob Whiting, from Blaine, was shivering as he stood on the shore after the dip.\u00a0He\u2019s\u00a0swam in Birch Bay many times, but this time it was \u201creally cold,\u201d he said, but he was \u201cloving it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

News on whether the attempt broke the world record should be released soon. Check back for updates.<\/p>\n

\"\"Kinley Ebbesen, 13, Kyla Garcia, 13, and Teagan Lutjemeier, 14, wait to be the last ones out of the water. (Andy Bronson<\/a>\/Cascadia Daily News)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Charlotte Alden<\/a> is CDN\u2019s general assignment\/enterprise reporter; reach her at charlottealden@cascadiadaily.com<\/a>; 360-922-3090 ext. 123.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BIRCH BAY \u2014\u00a0Thousands of community members from across the region, and some from across the country,\u00a0crowded the Birch…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":382877,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[79,201],"class_list":{"0":"post-382876","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382876\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/382877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}