2012 Polar Bear Results

The results from the 2011-2012 Polar Bear swim are published. 119 folks completed the full forty miles. Another 11 people who are over 60 years old swam 20 miles or more to qualify for "Old Goat" status. The Polar Bear champion this year is John Nogue. He swam 165 miles. As is typical, a story accompanies John's achievement.

Mr. Nogue teaches biology and anatomy to college students Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Since he lives in Napa, this means that he could only swim two days during the week on Tuesday and Thursday.  On the weekend, he'd swim on Saturday and/or Sunday, depending on the demands of domestic duties. On swim days, he drove to the club and began swimming about 8 am. He'd typically swim two miles and head for the sauna to warm up. Then he'd swim another mile and a half and warm up again. Then he'd swim another mile and a half and warm up yet again. The triple-dip kept him at the club until around noon. I presume he was quite ready for lunch by then. This routine strikes me as a tough way to win the Polar Bear championship.

Polar Bear Champion Trophy

One year, I was sitting in the sauna next to Rich Livingston, a previous Polar Bear champion. He had noticed that my squares were piling up compared to the other participants and asked me if I intended to win the Polar Bear that year. I told him there was no chance of my taking that honor, but I was kind of interested in swimming at least 100 miles. He nodded sagely and then boomed in his pronounced baritone, "Ah yes. I call that the 'Golden Bear.'" The club doesn't officially recognize Golden Bears but I think they definitely deserve an honorable mention.

This year, Joe Illick, Ross Browne, and Alex Buehlmann garnered Golden Bears. At the age of 77, this is Mr. Illick's thirteenth Golden Bear. Since the year 2000, he has won the Polar Bear five times. One year, he swam over 200 miles and still came in second. In the annals of Polar Bear history, Joe is a standout.

A perpetual trophy honors past Polar Bear champions. The first winner was Elmer Tosta who swam 101.5 miles in the winter of 1984-85. The next year, George Kebbe won with 200 miles. The year after that, Stan Hlynsky set yet another record with 230 miles in a famously ferocious battle with George. Mr. Hlynsky's mark stood until 1992-93 when he helped (or possibly goaded) his friend, Patrick Freilinger, to swim 232 miles. Three years later, George Kebbe returned to eclipse this mark with 255 miles. At the time, the irrepressible George laughed his infectious cackle and said to me, "Larry, you think anyone will ever beat that? I don't think so." And then he wandered into the locker room trailing his famous guffaw.

Surprising everyone, Suzie Dods did break his record in the winter of 2002-03. She swam 256 miles. It was a stunner. On average, this feat requires a person to swim a little less than 3 miles every single day of the 90 days of winter. No vacation. No sickness. No slacking. The fact that two human beings were capable of accomplishing this in 50 degree water caused all observers to shake their heads in wonder.

To people who know George, it was no wonder that he took this as a challenge. He had already won the Polar Bear five times. He was now determined to put the record on a shelf no one could reach. In the winter of 2003-04, he swam 356 miles. Holding a full-time job, he came early every morning to swim two miles. He'd go to work and return in the evening to swim two more miles. He plowed the measured distance between the Oprah and the Flag like a machine. Four times in the morning. Four times in the afternoon. Unbelievable. Once again, he said to me, "Larry, you think anyone will ever beat that? I don't think so. HA-HA-HA-HA-HA."

So far, no one has broken that record. However, in the winter of 2006-07, Ralph Wenzel tied it. He also swam 356 miles. Ralph also worked full-time and he also swam every morning and every evening. Resisting the encouragement of many people to do a little more on the last day of the Polar Bear, he politely declined, "No, I have too much respect for George to break his record. I'm satisfied with a tie." In one way, I was hoping for a new mark. That would have meant that we'd have the pleasure of George's company in the sauna for one more winter.

One other Polar Bear record was broken this year. Vincent Huang extended his own record, completing his 34th consecutive winter swim of 40 miles or more. Not yet 60 years old, if Vincent stays the course as long as Joe Illick has, he may be the person to finally set the unbreakable record. It's hard to tell since it's quite apparent that so many obsessive-compulsive people belong to the club.