On Jan. 1, 2026, the Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce hopes to bring a world record to Whatcom County as they host an attempt to break the record for the largest Polar Bear Dip in the world.
The plunge first started as a few people who had nothing else to do on New Year's Day 42 years ago, according to Eddie Lathers, a former business owner in Birch Bay who was there when the first plunge took place.
“There were several people in the bar at the time, this was early in the morning, and they got into a discussion on how there was nothing to do on New Year's Day at Birch Bay,” Lathers said. “They sort of got into some heavy discussion on different things … All of a sudden, this one lady got a little upset and said, ‘Why don’t you all go jump in the bay?’ And another person said, ‘Well, that’s a good idea, let’s all do it.’”
The rest is history, and almost every year since, a group of people have been out to the bay to plunge into the water. The tradition has grown from around a dozen people in the first few years to roughly 1,500 people.
The idea for the attempt at the world record came from Jacob and Kaitlin Gobeille, owners of Beach Cat Brewing, a brewery located in Birch Bay.
“It had to be two or three years ago that I said, ‘I wonder how big the record is for the polar bear plunge,’ because we get a lot of people out every year, we get a thousand plus people,” Jacob Gobeille said. “I looked and it was in Denmark or somewhere in the Czech Republic that had 1,700 people, and I was like, ‘That seems completely doable.’”
The current world record has since grown to 2,461, held by Most, Czech Republic, which was set in March 2025. In order for Birch Bay to break the record, they must have at least 2,462 people all enter the water at the same time, and stay at least waist-deep for 60 seconds. The record attempt will officially be for a Polar Bear Dip; however, it is still the same polar bear plunge that has occurred over the past 42 years.
Sacha Sanguinetti, event coordinator for the Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce, spoke on how this plunge is for more than just a world record.
“The whole point of doing this is to bring more awareness to Birch Bay as a vacation destination as a whole at any time of the year,” Sanguinetti said. “We’re doing this to show that we can have some fun when the weather’s cloudy and gloomy as well.”
Sanguinetti is hoping to have upwards of 2,500-3,000 people at the event, so preregistration for the plunge is important.
“As you might expect, since we are chasing a specific number, we have to have a pretty robust verification process, and that means everybody registering so that we have a good count of how many people are actually on the beach,” Sanguinetti said.
The Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce is promoting pre-registration with a prize drawing for early registrants, which will close on Christmas Day. Registration before Thanksgiving will result in two prize drawing entries, and registration between Thanksgiving and Christmas will result in one prize drawing entry. The winner of the prize drawing will be announced on Jan. 1, following the plunge.
Information about registration for both participation in the plunge and volunteering to help with the plunge can be found at the Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce website.
“We have some really cool prizes, including a stay in a waterfront room at Semiamoo, and that includes a lot of goodies,” Sanguinetti said. “It’s like a $750 value on that, and a number of other prizes.”
Although the idea of a World Record is at the forefront of most minds, the ideas of community and belonging are also present for Gobbeille.
“It’s such a needed thing in our world, the ability to belong to something,” Jacob Gobeille said.
“The ability to belong to a community of people that share values and all want the best for each other.”
Christian Larrañaga (he/him) is a Sports and Recreation reporter for The Front. He is in his second year at Western, majoring in Visual Journalism, and is in his first quarter at The Front. Christian spends his time in the outdoors, playing soccer or hanging out with friends. You can reach him at christianlarranaga.thefront@gmail.com.
