A Cold Start to the New Year

Early on New Year’s morning, when most people were burrowed deep beneath their blankets, a few brave souls stripped down to their swimsuits and jumped into Hansen Dam Swim Lake in Lake View Terrace.

After absorbing the initial shock of the 46-degree water, they gingerly waded into waist-high water the length of the 200-yard, man-made lake as a handful of spectators cheered.

It was over in five minutes.

The swimmers emerged shivering but exhilarated. They quickly wrapped themselves in beach towels and warmed themselves in front of a fire blazing onshore.

“I feel excellent!” said Ernie Garcia, a 53-year-old actor from Tujunga, as water dripped from his long black hair.

“Don’t you feel amazing?” he asked fellow swimmer Daniel Davis, 15, of Lake View Terrace.

“Yeah, amazingly numb,” the teenager deadpanned.

While not as well known as the 100-year-old Coney Island Polar Bear Club in Brooklyn, N.Y., or even the 52-year-old Cabrillo Beach Polar Bears of San Pedro, the five swimmers who took a dip in the chilly lake waters on Thursday said they are just as committed to the 4-year-old Polar Bear Swim sponsored by the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.

“Every year they’ve had it, I’ve done it,” Garcia said. “I used to wake up on New Year’s Day hung over and tired. Now I feel as though I have accomplished something on the very first day of the new year.”

At 8 a.m. Thursday, Garcia, his wife, Julie, and their daughter, Jessica, both adamant landlubbers, walked into the lifeguard station where they met first-time polar bear Jim Murphy of Van Nuys.

“I read about the swim and I said, ‘I’ve got to give this a try at least once,’ ” said the 52-year-old Los Angeles Unified School District assistant plant manager. “I have resigned my membership as a competent carbon life form to do this.”

About half an hour later it was clear that Garcia, Murphy, lifeguards David Alcantara and Kevin Davis, and his son, Daniel, would be the only folks with enough heart to brave the water.

“Welcome to our annual Polar Bear Swim,” the elder Davis said, standing in the water as a dozen onlookers shook their heads in disbelief. “Can I have all the swimmers come up to the edge please -- before my feet go numb.”

At Davis’ signal, the swimmers jumped into the water. Alcantara swam the 200 yards while the others haltingly waded from one end to the other.

“I feel as though I have done something that few people around the world have done -- I am an elitist,” Garcia joked as he put on his shoes and socks inside the lifeguard station.

But such bragging rights were not enough to lure onlooker Sulaiman Beyah, 69, of Pacoima into the water.

“Everyone has their specialty, and that’s all right for them,” the retired construction worker said. “But I don’t want no part of it.”