As a 74-year-old tradition, San Pedro’s annual New Year’s Day Polar Bear swim at Cabrillo Beach doesn’t see a lot of change — let alone disruption.
But this year, a couple of curve balls have been thrown into the mix, including a rain forecast and a 10,000-gallon sewage spill that closed the beach on Christmas Eve.
And that sewage spill, as of Monday, Dec. 29, appeared to be unresolved.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said in a statement that the ocean water closure remained in effect as of 4 p.m. Monday, with more testing to be completed.
“This morning at 8:19 a.m. we issued a notification that the Rain Advisory for Los Angeles County Beaches was lifted,” the emailed statement said. “(But) this did not include the ocean water closure due to the sewage spill affecting Cabrillo Beach. At 10:30 a.m. our team member was collecting samples at Cabrillo Beach and identified that the closure signs were removed. They reposted the closure signs with assistance from the lifeguards. The ocean water closure remains in effect, and a notification will be sent to the lifeguards to keep the signs posted.”
That appears to leave the New Year’s Day event a bit up in the air, said Polar Bear President Lisa Guerr, who added that she will be relying on word from the lifeguards.
“I left it as, ‘You let us know if you’re going to close the beach or pull out the lifeguards,’” Guerr said late Monday, “so we’ll have to wait to see what the lifeguards say.”
A response in an inquiry earlier Monday from Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn’s office said that if the tests revealed high bacteria, DPH would not be able to lift the ocean water closure by New Year’s Day.
“I hope they will be able to safely reopen Cabrillo in time for the New Year’s Day Polar Plunge,” Hahn said in a statement. “We are all hoping the tests are good and we get a reprieve from the rain, at least for a little while. The Polar Plunge is one of my favorite San Pedro traditions and I know so many of my fellow Polar Bears will be disappointed if it gets cancelled.”
In 2021, the swim also was canceled because of a sewage leak. The year before, it was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year, meanwhile, could still see rain during the event, though that is not expected to pose a separate water precaution at Cabrillo Beach, according to DPH.
The chance of rain, according to AccuWeather’s Thursday morning forecast for San Pedro, is 91% — though that drops to 60% by afternoon. Those forecasts were posted as of Monday, Dec. 29.
For the most part, though, a bit of rain — it has happened before on a handful of occasions — won’t hold back the stalwarts who launch the first day of the new year at San Pedro’s beach, with a bracing swim or dunk in natural salt water, no matter how cold it might be. The water temperature typically is in the high 50s or low 60s, with the air temperature this year expected to be in the lower 60s.)
The rain, Guerr said, “is definitely going to affect the crowd size. But we’ll be there setting up, the lifeguards will be there and we’ll see how it goes.”
Even with unusual wet weather, the swim tends to have reliable participation.
This year’s swim “king,” Stephen M. White of San Pedro (no connection to the historical figure), said that swimming, catching a wave or diving off Cabrillo Beach is a way of life.
The experience, the civil engineer and married father of two adult children said in a written biography, “is invigorating.” It could be a short swim at Cabrillo, an hour sail to the Point Fermin Buoy or a day snorkeling off Catalina Island, he said.
The 2026 “queen” grew up in a storied San Pedro household. The daughter of the late John and Muriel Olguin, Moni Olguin was immersed in the tradition, which her father and another lifeguard at Cabrillo Beach began many years ago. But the former school teacher and administrator only started swimming daily at the beach about a year and a half ago.
She now also sings with her band, The Mourners, and paints and writes. The ocean, she said, has inspired her music in recent years.
San Pedro’s Polar Bear New Year’s swim tradition began sometime during the late 1940s, with a group of Los Angeles County lifeguards at Cabrillo Beach, including John Olguin and Jack Cheaney, who would took an annual casual plunge every Jan. 1.
It’s not known exactly what year that first informal dip occurred, but curious onlookers eventually began to show up to watch, with some wanting to join in. So Olguin and Cheaney formed the Cabrillo Beach Polar Bears, a club that’s still active, encourages daily swims in the ocean and sponsors the annual plunge. Olguin’s wife, Muriel, designed the club logo — which is still in use today.
As for the annual swims, club members would meet in the fall to elect a Polar Bear Swim king and queen. They’d arrive at Cabrillo Beach in a boat, disembark and lead the swimmers into the ocean at noon on every New Year’s Day. That tradition remains.
“It’s just a great tradition in San Pedro,” said Guerr, a daily ocean swimmer, “and this year we have Moni Olguin, so there’s lot of tradition with San Pedro and the Polar Bears. It’s a great way to start the new year.”
The the salt water, she said, “just helps to energize you. I almost get a natural adrenaline rush going into the colder water.”
As for the sewage leak and the prospects of the swim happening — stay tuned.
The Cabrillo Beach event attracts people of all ages and offers certificates, hot chocolate and cupcakes afterward on the beach to participants.
Those planning to attend, if the swim goes on, are advised to arrive early. Festivities open at 11:30 a.m. with the ceremony to crown the new king and queen. The mass charge into the water starts promptly at noon. The beach is at 3720 Stephen M. White Drive.
SCNG staff writer Sam Gnerre contributed to this report.