Not as many 'polar bears' for LCKC 'Low Tide' swim

GAINESVILLE - The water was low and the cold wind was brisk, and it was a chilly 2008 Polar Bear Swim at the Lake Lanier Olympic Center Tuesday.

The Lanier Canoe and Kayak Club (LCKC) called this year's event the "Low Tide Polar Bear Swim," an acknowledgment to the low levels of drought-plagued Lake Lanier. Swimmers jumped into the water from a dock platform extending out into the lake.

There were no high jumps because of the low water level, but there was plenty of room for mass jumps.

Forty-nine participants braved the cold water and the whipping wind, which pushed wind chills about the time the event started to around freezing.

"It was awesome, we feel so alive right now," Rachel Woodard and Ann Rogers from Athens exclaimed when they emerged from the water, shivering.

With better lake conditions and slightly warmer weather, about 100 people participated in the New Year's Day event last year.

Diane Duffy with LCKC stood by with a 'shepherd's crook' to assist anyone who got into trouble and said the weather and the water level effected the numbers.

"We had a lot fewer this year," Duffy said. "A lot of people, probably because the lake was so low, thought it was not going to happen."

This was the eleventh annual Polar Bear Swim, a fundraiser for the LCKC.