Most mornings, the Blue Boobies arrive in waves at the Albany Beach parking lot.
Some days, they start as early as 6 a.m., appearing in the dark, attaching themselves to lit buoys and venturing out, barely visible in the predawn light. Then, another wave around 7 a.m., after the sun’s up, and another at 8. This swim group’s name is not only a reference to the blue-footed seabird but also the, well, physiological impact of prolonged cold water exposure to female bodies. It’s also a nod to a U.K.-based open-water swim group called the Bluetit Chill Swimmers, a group that grew out of a pandemic-era shift toward open-water swimming that’s become global and now has chapters around the world.
But you won’t find these swimmers calling themselves polar bear swimmers. That’s for people who swim in truly cold water in the winter — think Lake Tahoe in the 30-something degrees — or for members of San Francisco’s illustrious Dolphin Club participating in its polar bear challenge to swim 40 miles in the bay between Dec. 21 and March 21. There, swimmers assiduously track their mileage on logs at the club, and those who complete the challenge receive commemorative marble blocks.
“It’s an enjoyable — even if occasionally painful — ritual that we enjoy,” says Diane Walton, former Dolphin Club president.
Plenty of groups organize polar bear dips, where people run into the water, scream, and run back out. But to complete the polar bear challenge at the Dolphin Club is a significant achievement of endurance and grit, she explains. And while completing the Dolphin Club’s Polar Bear challenge is a remarkable feat of athleticism, the swimming hub itself possesses a huge advantage over other Bay Area swimming spots: It’s got a clubhouse with hot showers and a sauna right next to the water.
Meanwhile, the Blue Boobies don’t have an easy way to warm up post-swim, adding a level to the challenge to open-water swimming. Member Colleen Haraden-Gorski says she’s glad her car ignition turns on with a button. Otherwise, she’d struggle to start her car. “I mean, that’s how cold it is when you’re out for a while,” she says. “You’d be surprised how much you shake.”
But the lack of warming-up facilities hasn’t stopped the Blue Boobies and several other groups like it from thriving around the Bay Area, thanks to growing interest in open-water swimming. During the pandemic, many public pools were shut down, and swimmers turned increasingly to natural bodies of water for exercise.
One such swimmer was Jenny Fosket, who in 2022 was turning 50 and made it a personal mission to swim every day for a whole year and blog about it, starting with her birthday in early January. She spent the year swimming primarily from the Albany Beach with the Blue Boobies, but also from other open-water destinations around the bay, including in Alameda, Sausalito, San Francisco and as far south as Coyote Point in San Mateo. She also took a trip to Ireland and, while swimming in a group, witnessed an elderly woman, normally bound to a wheelchair, take off when she got into the water.
“That’s part of the magic of water,” she says. “Water is this loving presence, just helping you along.”
Now, she’s working on a memoir about the experience. “I think that year of swimming helped me rewrite my sense of what it means to succeed,” she says.
For many open-water swimmers, swimming in the bay is a way to find calm at the start of one’s day and reconnect with nature.
“It’s so amazing to watch the sun come up when you’re on the water,” says Haraden-Gorski, who’s been swimming for about seven years at Albany Beach. “Some of the most magical mornings for me personally have been on those early morning dawn patrol swims.” Being able to swim in the bay is particularly meaningful for her, as she’s spent her career in the water resources field, working to improve water quality in the bay.
Sometimes, though, she says, the nature gets a little too close — specifically, some of the younger male harbor seals. “They’ve actually tried to hump me before. That was a little much,” Haraden-Gorski says with a laugh. “But at the same time, I was touched that a marine mammal found me interesting enough to make the moves on me.”
But amorous seals are only one obstacle these swimmers face. Hypothermia is a more common one. Regular open-water swimmers say that knowing one’s limits is critical to staying safe, as is swimming with others.
“When it is cold, you want buddies around you in case you start getting more cold than you want to be,” says Rebecca Tilley, member of the Blue Boobies and Dolphin Club.
As the swimmers describe it, it takes a certain comfort with discomfort, built up over months of acclimatization to the chilly temperatures, to return day after day, to the bay’s waters — especially in winter.
Ask Kim Krause, who swims regularly from Robert W. Crown Memorial State Beach in Alameda with a smaller group of around six regulars. Yes, sometimes the cold is shocking. It can make your breathing funny. And sure, she says, she’ll recognize it’s a particularly cold day when, after her swim, her face is so cold she struggles to get it to cooperate in forming words. But to her, that’s part of the experience.
“Some people would never want to do this, but I like it, actually,” she says.
“When you’re body’s reacclimating to normal temperatures, you feel pretty tingly and wonderful. You get kind of giggly and goofy,” Haraden-Gorski says. “You just want to make sure you’re not too goofy.”
If you go:
- Never swim alone.
- When starting out, take time to learn how your body responds to the cold, and don’t swim out past where you can stand.
- Be aware of the tides and currents where you’re swimming.
- Consider taking an open-water training. For instance, Odyssey Open Water Swimming offers private swims, lessons and group open water swims.
Upcoming Polar Bear plunges and swims:
Polar Bear Pool Party: 1:30-3 p.m. Dec. 20, 2025. Pleasant Hill Aquatic Park, 147 Gregory Lane, Pleasant Hill. Brave the chilly temperatures of the training pool, then hop into the heated pool, plus enjoy aquatic games and hot cocoa at this kickoff to the winter season. $18 and up. pleasanthillrec.com
Polar Bear Plunge: Jan. 3, 2026, Robert Livermore Aquatics Center, 4448 Loyola Way, Livermore. More information at: larpd.org/polar-bear-plunge-2026
San Mateo County Polar Plunge: 9 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Feb. 28, Coyote Point Beach, San Mateo. Plan a dunk into the duck pond at Coyote Point in San Mateo at this Special Olympics Northern California fundraiser. $125. p2p.onecause.com/san-mateo-polar-plunge.
Bay Area 5K & Polar Plunge: 8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., March 21, 2026, Robert W. Crown Memorial State Beach, Alameda. This costumes-encouraged fundraiser for Special Olympics Northern California invites participants to run a 5K along the beach before plunging into the bay. $125. p2p.onecause.com/bay-area-polar-plunge.