Brrrring on the cold for 47th annual Penguin Dip

Temperatures of -7 degrees Celsius (-15 with the wind chill) greeted 32 hearty souls at the 47th annual Niagara-on-the-Lake Penguin Dip on Boxing Day. 

As Penguin Club member Rick Mills said, “These are prime conditions. It’s cold and it’s snowy. It makes it that much more of a challenge.”

Already an official member of the Penguin Club, Mills was back at Balls Beach for his fourth dip, his first since 2015. 

“I told my wife a few years ago that I was done,” he laughs. “I said I was old enough, and not as stupid as I used to be. Well guess what? Today I have proven that wrong.”

A last-minute decision by Chris Bjorgan and other veteran members of the Penguin Club moved Monday’s dip to familiar territory. 

Originally slated to take place at Queen’s Royal Park, once Bjorgan and others arrived it was clear that the ice along the shore at the foot of King Street would make the plunge too dangerous. So the hearty veterans and Penguin hopefuls were redirected down the path to the annual tradition’s usual home. 

Still, Ed Ball needed to spend a few moments chipping away at about two feet of ice at the northwest entrance closest to the groyne, or rock barrier, to ensure safe entry. 

That entry point was far enough from the road, where the warming trailer was set up to be used between each plunge, to force each participant to run the gauntlet, albeit a friendly and supportive one, that was about 100 strong. 

Bjorgan gathered everyone at the trailer shortly after 1 p.m. to explain the rules. As always, each participant was expected to take three plunges: one to get their head under water, another as a free-style entry, and finally, as a group, lined up along the beach and backing into the water together. To become an official Penguin, this routine has to be done in three different years. 

Because of the icy conditions and the high number of participants, Bjorgan broke the throng up into 30-and-under and over-30 age groups.

Niagara Falls resident Aaron Burrows was one of the first 18 participants to take the plunge. The 27-year-old newlywed had been encouraged to try it by his brother-in-law, Derek Beatty, a veteran back for his sixth dip. 

Burrows lost a shoe in his first swim. A fellow Penguin found it and brought it back to the trailer for him, but not before he had already hustled back to the trailer without it..

“I think I lost all feeling in my left foot,” he said, out of breath at the end of his chilly adventure. “The second dip was the hardest one. I already had wet hair, and it was frozen by the time we got back to the water. The third time wasn’t too bad because we were huddling up with other people and doing it together.”

Burrows wasn’t sure he would take the plunge again next year, saying he would give himself a year to make a decision. 

Another first-timer, 26-year-old Hudson Corby of St. Catharines was energized and proud of his accomplishment when it was all over. 

“Yes, exhilarated, but only at the end,” he laughed, “I’ll be back next year. I want to get that Penguin (status).”

The second group to leave the shoreline included former NOTL town councillor Clare Cameron and her husband Mackenzie. The NOTL Local suggested to Clare that since she’s no longer on council, she could have sat the dip out this year.

“Let’s get it straight, I didn’t do it because I was on council,” she said of taking the dip for the first time in 2019 with Mackenzie. “Let’s dispel that myth. The way I see it, when you have the opportunity to do something like this, you have to do it, no matter how crazy it is.”

Adventurer Stan Wall, a rural St. Davids resident known for his powered paragliding adventures above the NOTL landscape, was one of the first-timers in the second group. 

“I just wanted to try it,” Wall said. “It was a great experience, it was thrilling. I never thought I would do something like this. I’ll be back next year.”

Wall’s wife, Carlee, chimed in, “His fear was always ice-cold water. He’s been taking ice baths at home to get ready for this. It’s crazy.”

Bjorgan was heartened to see so many people taking part, as well as the return of spectators, for the first time since 2019. The Penguin Dip, originally started by his brother Lorne and his friends, was held the past two years, but it wasn’t promoted in any way due to the pandemic. Last year a small group of eight showed up on Ball’s Beach.

“I’m really happy,” Bjorgan told The Local. “We do this for Red Roof Retreat every year. We always have more watching than we do swimming, and seeing so many people here today after two years is great.”

The hat was passed during the event and Red Roof’s founder and executive director Steffanie Bjorgan told the Local that close to $900 was raised Monday. 

“That’s the most in a long time,” she said. “It will go toward our Gifts From the Heart holiday campaign.”

Chris Knox, one of the die-hard Penguins who was there in 2021, wore a hockey jersey representing his Niagara Detention Centre team for his third entry into the river Monday. He promised his co-workers there who supported his fundraising efforts that he would wear the jersey. Knox actually took a fourth solo dip when someone handed him a late donation for Red Roof Retreat. 

The younger dippers outnumbered the older ones this year, not too surprising to the 65-year-old organizer. 

“Apparently,” joked Bjorgan, “the old guys are just getting smarter. The younger ones did a lot of complaining today, but they’ll get over it. You learn with experience that it takes real fortitude to do this over and over and over again.” 

Tips from Chris for anyone thinking of coming out for the first time in 2023: “Wear as little as possible because you don’t want water hanging on to you. Don’t dawdle, get in and out and back to the trailer. Psyche yourself up. It’s a good time, not a painful time.”