Ringing in 2011with a dip at the KLHF Polar Bear swim
By The Nelson Daily Sports
The preparation time is a full year. But the actual swim lasts only a few minutes, if not seconds.
The 2011 Kootenay Lake Hospital Foundation Polar Bear Swim proved to be another success story with 50-plus swimmers braving minus-7 temperatures under overcast skies and icy Kootenay Lake waters to ring in the New Year in style.
Nelson Mayor John Dooley conducted the start as participants sprinted from the sand into the cold waters of Kootenay Lake.
That was everyone except for Walter Nazaroff of South Slocan, who calmly walked into Kootenay Lake. After a few minutes in the water, Nazaroff, who has been doing this for the past 30 years, strolled out before towelling off the water.
“I don’t like to run in . . . I just walk in,” Nazaroff told The Nelson Daily.
Proceeds from the Polar Bear Swim go to the Kootenay Lake Hospital Foundation.
