An Annual Austin Tradition: Splashing In The New Year At Barton Springs

One year ago on this very day, I posted a blog entitled, “Splashing In The New Year.” The posting was met with such a complete silence and incredible resounding indifference, that I decided to press my luck, and once again write about the same topic. Some people never learn (that would be me) I guess, but I figure that 2011 has to be better than 2010? If you don’t agree with that statement, you need to stop reading blogs altogether, including mine, and head down to your local community college to take a course on current events, or, whatever else you want to study.

Every year, on New Year’s Day, the Save Our Springs Alliance, in Austin, Texas, hosts the annual Polar Bear Splash at Barton Springs in Zilker Park. From quite early in the morning until 2 in the afternoon, Alliance members greet the “Polar Bears,” who faithfully migrate to Barton Springs from all over the Texas Hill Country, to splash around in the spring’s ever constant 68 degree temperature. Last year I had the distinct honor and high privilege of just being an observer and photographer, but this year, my sweet, considerate, and loving wife got my lazy butt out of a warm bed and insisted I throw on a pair of “Hawaii” swim trunks and accompany her to Barton Springs at some ungodly hour of the morning.

The Save Our Springs Alliance, the host of the “Splash,” is dedicated to protecting the hill country’s Edward’s Aquifer, as well as related waterways, and the natural and cultural heritage of the hill country, including Barton Springs. It’s a noble and worthwhile goal, which I fully support, and the organization makes the New Year’s Day Polar Bear Splash a lot of fun. People of all ages dress up in all sorts of ridiculous outfits and bathing attire to jump in the springs, including me, who stripped off a silly Hawaiian shirt, to expose an even sillier mismatched Hawaiian bathing suit, before I took the plunge. Others had pirate masks on, wore Hawaiian hula skirts, or tiaras with the words “Happy New Year,” emblazoned on the front. Like every year it seems, the people bundled up in jackets and taking photographs vastly outnumbered the swimmers. One tradition for those who actually venture out into the springs is that you don’t say “Happy New Year” to anyone until you actually dip your head beneath the cold water. To be honest with you, I can’t remember whether I did or didn’t, but my wife was certainly wishing every living thing that she swam by “Happy New Year,” including fish, turtles, and whatever that green stuff is that grows in the springs.

Another element of the annual event is for the visiting swimmers, or should I say, “Polar Bears,” to bring food to share with everyone. Perhaps I’m mistaken, but a lot of people I saw in the chow line never made it down to the springs for a dip. I can understand it I guess, why would anyone forgo another bratwurst covered with mustard for the opportunity to jump into some icy water?

Outside the springs, gawkers looked down at the swimmers, and the S.O.S. Alliance provided free coffee, sold commemorative shirts, and dispensed literature supporting its cause. Of course the event being in Austin, with that “Keep Austin Weird” philosophy, attracted a few others, who it seemed, had a different point of view. But, that did not stop the small children from having fun riding the small gauge “Zilker Zephyr” train around Zilker Park. I love trains, and have ridden this train before. After my swim, I would have liked to ride it again, but I couldn’t bring myself to buy a ticket, and deprive some small innocent child of the opportunity for a ride. But, I must admit, the thought did cross my mind, and not just once, but several times.

Given all the silly costumes I saw today, nothing was sillier than someone who wasn’t trying to be silly at all. A young bearded version of Ringo Starr, wearing those expensive “get darker as the sun gets brighter” sunglasses, walked around the pool for hours cloaked in an expensive white bathrobe, with a white towel slung over his shoulder talking on his cell phone. Perhaps he finally did, but I never saw him get into the water. My recommendation for his New Year resolution is quite simple, try to spend at least one hour a day without your cell phone smashed against your ear.

As in the past, I had a lot of fun today, and I’ll miss the event until it arrives again exactly one year from now. It’s for a good cause, and, hopefully someone from the S.O.S Alliance, or, quite frankly anyone else will actually acknowledge reading the posting about the “Splash” this year. “Green” is the new buzz-word apparently, but in my experience, “Old" and "West,” are tried and true buzz-words, and words which people actually like reading about.

Splashing In The New Year

While many people around the world were “ringing” in the New Year with alcohol, music, fireworks and traditional meals, there were others who brought in the New Year with a splash. Members of Polar Bear organizations around the globe celebrate the promise of the coming year by swimming in the coldest bodies of water they can find.

In Moscow, where ice swimmers call themselves, morzhi (walruses), instead of Polar Bears, the swims are undertaken in extremely frigid water underneath holes in the ice of streams, rivers, and lakes. The swims in these icy waters are normally accompanied by single digit or below zero air temperatures, making for more than just a refreshing dip. And while neither the New Year’s day water or air temperatures in the hill country approximates (thankfully) what is found in Moscow, or in a great many locations in this country for that matter, it does takes a special person to climb out of a warm bed and jump into some cold water on the first day of January.

Although it warmed up later in the day, at 10:00 this morning in Austin, the air temperature was in the mid 40’s. The water temperature in Austin’s Barton Springs Pool at Zilker Park at that same hour was around 68 degrees. These were the conditions which greeted members of Austin’s Barton Springs Polar Bear Club for its annual rite of passage held on the first day of every year. The cold January swim was not just for members of the club, however, but for anyone who wished to enjoy the invigorating benefits of the dip in the always chilly Barton Springs Pool. Although I did not jump into the cold water myself (as I rationalized that someone had to take photographs and carefully document the event), my wife, very much enjoyed her time in the water.

People of all ages, from children to elderly senior citizens, participated in the swim. Some of the swimmers wore some very interesting, unusual, and colorful swimming attire. While many of those taking the plunge into the water did not stay in for very long, there were others who seemed to be energized by the water and lingered for quite some time. There is no doubt that those who watched the event far outnumbered those who swam. But either way, everyone was laughing and having a great time. I even wished, very briefly at one point, that I had brought my swim suit. Happily for me, however, that thought quickly disappeared as I regained some semblance of my good senses.

The Save Our Springs Alliance, an organization dedicated to protecting the natural water resources in and around the hill country, was on hand to promote the event and dispense free hot coffee. There was also free food available which was enjoyed by both swimmers and spectators alike. The swim today was indicative of most all the events in Austin and the surrounding hill country, with people coming together and having a lot of fun.

And, while I’m sure that many hearty ice swimmers in Moscow, and other colder locations around the world, would discount the “cold swim” at Barton Springs as being too warm to even mention, the local swimmers did what they could with the climate and waters with which they were blessed. And, unlike most of us, they splashed in the New Year, in a healthy and exhilarating way, and had an enjoyable time doing it.