2018 Polar Bear Swim

There was a chilly wind blowing, the clouds were dark, the sea was turbulent with a changing tide, the beach was littered with blue bottles……. YES, only the brave will guess…. the annual Polar Bear swim was upon us.

This is the first year in my experience that the conditions have been as harsh as they were this year, but this never stopped the parents, Scouters, Scouts and Cubs that braved the elements to come out of their warm houses to support a major fundraiser for 1st Muizenberg, the annual Polar Bear tuckshop. This was also the first year where all the Polar Bear Crew were uniquely identified by a crew shirt – this really added an even more professional touch to our ever-popular tuckshop.

We arrived at 08:00 on Saturday morning, carried the equipment down

and quickly set up the tuckshop to be ready to feed the hundreds of cold and hungry Polar Bear swimmers. At 10:00 sharp, the group photo was taken and the brave swimmers took to the water. Due to the rougher-than-normal sea conditions, the ever-increasing rip tide and floating blue bottles, the organiser decided to limit the swim time to 10 minutes rather than 30 minutes. This restriction definitely did not detract the eager Scouts and Scouters from swimming…. with the Scouts, this year lasting longer in the water than the Scouters – I will give you guys this one, but next year, I challenge you once again.

By 12:30, the tuckshop stand was struck, the vehicles were packed and the “cold but merry” swimmers and volunteers were on their way back home after a very successful morning. Well done and thank you to all of the fundraisers, participants and supporters for a very successful Polar Bear tuckshop fundraiser and Polar Bear swim.