Tag: Polar Plunge

Video and photos from the 2026 Polar Bear Plunge

January 1, 2026

Happy 2026, Milwaukee! Go jump in the lake! Yes, since time immemorial, hearty Milwaukeeans have celebrated New Year's Day by taking part in the Polar Bear Plunge—a.k.a. heading down to Bradford Beach and sp...

Watch local weather guru Bert Lauderdale report from the 2024 Polar Bear Plunge

Matt Wild

January 2, 2024

With the first day of the year comes a first-day-of-the-year tradition in Milwaukee: jumping into the frigid waters of Lake Michigan. Yes, the 2024 Polar Bear Plunge took place on Monday. Hundreds of hearty sou...

Mandatory Milwaukee: Thinking about doing the Polar Bear Plunge and then finally doing it

Matt Wild

January 2, 2023

Some Milwaukee things come and go, while some Milwaukee things become iconic. Mandatory Milwaukee is all about the latter. This week: finally doing the Polar Bear Plunge! Near the end of 2021, I wrote about ...

Witnessing the coldest Polar Plunge in more than 40 years (because I was too scared to actually do it)

Lauren Keene

January 3, 2018

Even though the Polar Plunge is a Milwaukee tradition spanning almost 100 years, I'll be honest: there's pretty much nothing that sounds appealing about it. Getting up bright and early on New Year's Day to…swim...

Great Job, Milwaukee! The New York Times shot a 360-degree video of the Polar Plunge

Matt Wild

January 9, 2017

Here at Milwaukee Record, we employ a sentient machine known as the Great Job, Milwaukee! Bot to keep track of the city's many appearances on dopey online lists, as well as any time a national publication dei...

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